Leaving
by Persadiala
Summary: The long-awaited rewrite of Run Away. To those who have read Run Away, I hope it lives up to the original. To those who haven't: This is a simple, mostly lighthearted take on 'What if Hiccup ran away, before he'd even begun to gain the approval of the village through dragon training' I hope you enjoy this, though I won't mind if you don't. I had a lot of fun writing it. :)
1. It Wasn't Really A Plan

During the raid in which Hiccup shot down a Night Fury, a Monstrous Nightmare fired at the ships, burning most of them to ashes. The Vikings were lucky to salvage two for fishing purposes.

Nobody believed Hiccup when he'd told them he shot down a Night Fury, so he went to find it himself, and found something entirely different... A friend. Of course, no one was interested in hearing that he no longer wanted to fight dragons. They simply laughed, as if he were joking.

The warriors' search for the nest was set back a month, despite the possibility of ice setting in before they could return. It was an occupational hazard. There were a lot of those.

Both Hiccup and Gobber were busy hammering nails to replace the ones at the bottom of the harbor, as well as more weapons, since quite a few had been thrown at the retreating dragons in frustration and anger when the Vikings realized that the boats were burning, and more had gone down with the ships. The teens' dragon training was postponed.

Fast forward a month and a half.

It was the second week of dragon training, and the teens were scrambling around a maze with a Deadly Nadder. Most of them were concentrating on staying alive. Hiccup, on the other hand, was fishing for information. By now, he was friends with the dark dragon he'd shot down, Toothless, and he'd been flying with him for almost a month.

Hiccup wanted to know if the other Vikings knew Toothless's shot limit. Did they know how to sneak up on a Night Fury, or when it slept? Hiccup knew the answers to most of those questions, but he wanted to know what the village knew of Night Furies. (Not much, apparently.)

Now fast forward half an hour.

The training ring was in shambles, and Astrid stood above Hiccup as the Nadder retreated to its cage, disoriented. "Is this some kind of a joke to you?" She asked angrily as she turned to glare at him. "Our parents' war is about to become_ ours_," Hiccup could have easily caused both of them to lose their lives if she hadn't managed to untangle herself from him, and he didn't even seem to care. He'd caused so many disasters, it would have been easier to lock him up during raids. Hel, it was almost as if he helped the dragons on purpose! "Figure out which side you're on!"

She almost stopped there. Almost. "Why are you even here? This place is for _dragon killers_. You're obviously not good enough-" Astrid got no farther than that.

Hiccup stumbled to his feet, glancing nervously at her before running out of the Training Ring. Astrid's eyes narrowed. He wasn't getting away that easily. "Hiccup! Get _back_ here!" It would do him good to get an earful, and she wasn't about to let him walk away from it. There was also the small matter of her pride. The other teens were watching, they would never take her seriously if she let _Hiccup the Useless_ run from her like that. He'd set a challenge for her, whether he realized it or not, and she was going to _win_. She ignored the twins' snickering and ran after him.

Hiccup threw a glance over his shoulder, stumbling and almost running into someone as he did so. He knew he couldn't kill dragons. Hel, his best friend was a dragon. But it still hurt, hearing Astrid say it.

He had a plan, though. Well, not a _plan_, exactly. More like a crazy idea he was going to go through with. He was going to run away, fly off with Toothless and live somewhere else. Astrid had told him to figure out which side he was on. Well, he'd chosen, and it _wasn't_ the Vikings' side.

It wasn't as if anyone here would miss him, anyway. Except for Gobber, maybe, but the man could just get a new apprentice. Hiccup's problems were solved. But first, he had to get rid of Astrid, who, by the sound of things, was still following him. He threw a glance over his shoulder to check, almost running into the side of a house. Yes, she was.

Hiccup changed course, weaving through the marketplace. He had an advantage there, with his small stature. Of course, she was small too, but _she_ hadn't had to run from Snotlout and the twins nearly every day for most of her childhood.

He narrowly dodged a Viking with a wheelbarrow, then dashed through someone's back garden. He could still hear Astrid yelling at him, but her voice was fading a bit in the distance. Good, he was losing her. He made it out of the twisting maze of houses in record time and slowed as he reached the forge. Thank the gods Gobber wasn't there. He could just imagine the conversation:

_"Wha' are yeh doin'?"_

_"Oh, just packing my stuff so I can run away with a Night Fury. Did I mention I named him Toothless?"_

_"Oh, no, yeh don't! These swords aren't goin' to sharpen themselves, laddie. You can play in th' woods later."_

Hiccup rolled his eyes. Even in his_ head_, nobody believed he'd shot down a Night Fury.

"Okay... I'll need a basket, and some leather..." He grabbed a woven basket and shoved several tanned hides into it. He knew he didn't have much time, so he grabbed everything he could. "Needle, thread, um, charcoal... Scrap metal, I'll need my tools, too... I don't think anyone else wants those anyway. Dagger, ah, my work apron... Paper! I need paper..." He looked around frantically, and eventually just swept everything off his desk into the basket.

He looked around one more time, then peeked out the service window. Sure enough, Astrid was storming towards the forge, scowling angrily. Hiccup took a second to think about how pretty she looked when she was mad, then crept out the back door. He needed spare clothes, some furs in case it got cold, and he had to pick up his notebook, as well as clear his room of any pictures of Toothless. Once that was done, he was free to go. He took off for his house. Good thing he'd left the riding gear in the cove.

"Get back here! Hiccup!" Astrid shouted a moment later as she burst out of the empty smithy. She looked for the slight figure, not spotting him until he was disappearing into his home, carrying something. "Hiccup! Don't you dare run!" She was glad Stoick wasn't home. He probably wouldn't take kindly to her barging into his house like she was about to.

Astrid raised her axe and charged up the hill with a Viking war cry. It was for show, of course. She wasn't going to chop up the Chief's door, or anything like that. Just his son. And even then, only figuratively. She pushed open the door and crossed the threshold, realizing she hadn't actually been inside the Chief's house before.

She looked around. Stoick's house was pretty much like anyone else's, but it was bigger. Much bigger. She hurried up the stairs to the loft, because she hadn't seen any sign of Hiccup downstairs.

Astrid's eyes widened. Hiccup's room was not bare, as she'd assumed it would be. Paper covered the walls, desk, floor, and even the bed. Her mouth dropped open in surprise. Hiccup could draw. She shook herself out of her shock. So what if he could do something without screwing up? She could ask Hiccup to show her his drawings later if she felt like it, but she had to catch him now. She checked under the bed. Nothing. She frowned as a breeze ruffled her hair. A breeze?

She looked over at the window and cursed. It was open and she just caught a glimpse of green and brown as Hiccup hurried into the trees.

It took Astrid almost no time to reach the ground, having taken the same route as Hiccup. She sprinted into the forest, cursing. She nearly lost him several times as he weaved between trees. Then he ducked past a rock several yards ahead of her and she couldn't see him anymore.

Astrid ran forward, almost there...

That was when she heard it. Wing beats. Dragon. She cursed again, realizing she'd left her axe in Hiccup's room. She ducked behind a rock as she'd been taught. If you aren't prepared to defend yourself, hide.

Then Astrid remembered Hiccup. Skinny, weak Hiccup who couldn't have defended himself from a dragon if it was tied up in front of him, waiting to be killed. He was completely unprotected, and Astrid pushed herself forward for the same reason as anyone else would: Useless or not, Hiccup was the son of the Chief and a member of their tribe. Vikings protected their own.

"_Hiccup_!" She ran past the rock and stopped, scanning the beautiful cove in front of her. Trees, rocks, grass, pond. There was no one there. She scrambled down a narrow path to the bottom and looked around, scowling.

"Hiccup! Get out here!" She called, hoping he'd respond. He didn't. She began walking around, looking for him.

Her eyes took in the signs of a struggle: charred earth, claw marks, and footprints scattered the ground. There was a shield bearing the Berk crest wedged between two boulders, and, glinting in the shallows of the pond, lay Hiccup's dagger.

She stepped into the water and picked it up with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Was she too late? Had Hiccup come here to fight the dragon she'd heard? He wouldn't have stood a chance against whatever had taken up residence here...

Unless it were a Terrible Terror, maybe.

Somehow, she doubted it was a Terror.

Stepping back on shore, she noticed something laying in the dirt. A single shiny black scale. She picked it up, running her finger over it, then suddenly remembered something Hiccup had said a month and a half ago. "..._But I got a Night Fury. It's not like the last few times, Dad, I really actually hit it, it went down just off Raven_ _Point_..."

He hadn't been lying? She stared at the dark scale in her hand. Wow. He'd actually got it. But... Now it seemed more like_ it_ got_ him_.

She looked down. No one had believed Hiccup when he told them about the Night Fury, and now... Now it seemed as though that dragon had killed him. If they had only believed Hiccup's claim, would things be any different?

She took one more look around the clearing and ran back to the village, her expression grim. She had to tell the tribe about this.

Gobber waited patiently for the ship to dock. It had been two weeks since he'd lost his apprentice to a Night Fury and the village, as a whole, had volunteered_ him_ to tell Stoick the news. He watched as the beaten vessel bumped up against the pier and Vikings began pouring out. He saw the Chief then, face stony, and wished he didn't have to say anything at all.

"Well... I trust you found the nest, at least?" He asked hopefully. If Stoick had found the nest, then there'd be at least some good news to go around.

"Not even close." Stoick grumbled in response. No such luck, then.

"Ah. Excellent."

"Hope you had a little more success than me." Gobber winced. He'd hoped his friend wouldn't ask.

"Well... If by success you mean your parenting troubles are over with, then, yeah..." Gobber was never good at subtlety, but he was trying his best.

Stoick stared at him, but before he could say anything, Helga the Horrible trotted past on her way to help unload the boat. "Congratulations Stoick! Everyone's so relieved!"

Gobber cringed. This wasn't going as well as he'd hoped. More Vikings rushed past, each shouting something oh-so-helpfully at the Chief.

"Ou' with the old, 'n in with the new, eh Stoick?"

"No one'll miss tha' old nuisance!"

"The village is throwin' a party to celebrate!"

Stoick turned back to Gobber, an almost fearful, yet expectant expression on his face. "He's gone?"

Gobber nodded, looking anywhere but at Stoick. "Yeah... Turns out 'e did shoot down tha' Night Fury... He was carried off by th' thing a few weeks ago."

"No... They took Valka, they can't- Not Hiccup too, not my son..." Stoick closed his eyes, head bowed, and stayed that way for a moment before straightening, suddenly determined. "Let's get a search party out there t' find 'im, then! Wha' are yeh waitin' for?!"

Gobber shook his head sadly. "Stoick... I'm sorry, but there's nothin' we can do, nothin' to find. Hiccup's gone." Stoick stared at him for a moment, then turned suddenly and stomped towards his home, muttering to himself. Gobber looked after him worriedly.

"Well tha' went well..." He muttered. Then frowned. Sarcasm made him think of Hiccup, and that just made him sad, because his apprentice was gone forever, and he'd never hear that sarcastic voice again, talking about making a mark on the world, or complaining about Gobber's scattered appendages, or calling him a meathead... Gobber sighed.

Stoick's mood wouldn't improve when he learned that all the training dragons had escaped just a week after the Night Fury took his son, or that half the sheep were gone, taken in last week's raid.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I hope you liked it, and I'd just like to say that feedback is very welcome. Suggestions are great (Even if I did write most of it already, shush) and I'm having a lot of fun with this. When I went back and read Run Away, I found myself laughing a lot at stuff I couldn't remember writing. I hope you laugh reading this, too.**


	2. Are We There Yet?

"~Come on, Buddy. Let's do this!~" Hiccup called. The dragon grinned, putting on a burst of speed as they soared upwards in tight spirals before falling backwards.

In the three years since they had left Berk, Hiccup had learned the language of dragons. He'd done a lot of things, actually, but that was one of his more impressive feats.

Toothless screamed in joy as they spun in and out of the clouds, Hiccup yelling alongside him.

He'd built himself a home, a forge, a sheep pen for the sheep he'd taken one night... (The sheep, as it turned out, had been Gobber's. Hiccup had laughed as they flew off with it, listening to Gobber screaming about trolls.) Hiccup had carefully camoflauged everything so the dragons wouldn't raid him.

"~Hey, Bud. Do you wanna freefall today?~" Hiccup asked playfully.

Hiccup had gotten tired of getting singed clothing whenever Toothless felt like flying through his own fire, and sewed Toothless's discarded scales into a sort of armor. Now, when he wore it, he and Toothless blended seamlessly together as if they were literally one being.

"~Always!~" Toothless replied enthusiastically, as the two hurdled upwards.

He'd used the same technique, sewing scales onto leather, on Toothless's prosthetic tailfin after a wild Nightmare decided he wanted to burn them to a crisp.

"~This is amazing!~" Hiccup yelled as they tore through the air.

Hiccup didn't regret leaving at all. Sure, he missed some things about Berk- That had been inevitable. But he felt that his life was so much better than it ever could have been in the village.

"~Ready?~" Toothless asked as he leveled off well above the clouds.

He knew Berk was still being raided. He knew why, too, but there was nothing to be done about that. He only went back to the village during the chaos of a dragon raid, or under the cover of night, to steal leather and scrap metal he couldn't get anywhere else. He'd seen Astrid the last time he went there. She was beautiful. Snotlout was still hitting on her, as far as Hiccup knew. She ws probably still disgusted by him.

Hiccup's answer was to push the lever that gave Toothless control of his tail, then slide off of his back.

The twins still fought. They'd almost caught him once, but got into a fight over who saw the shadowy figure first. Hiccup got away, relieved.

"~Hey, wait for me!~" Toothless called, diving after his rider. If he'd taken a second longer, he might have seen a rare Stormcutter flying high above them. As it was, he didn't, and neither the Stormcutter nor his _rider_ were looking down.

Gobber hadn't taken another apprentice yet. Hiccup thought he was waiting for one of the Viking children to get old enough. Hiccup's dad seemed alright, still giving orders and killing dragons.

Hiccup grinned, whooping in exhilaration, as he and Toothless fell, spinning occasionally, toward the ocean far below.

* * *

><p>Astrid carefully packed everything she was going to need for the upcoming camping trip. Gobber was taking them to one of the nearby islands, a place the Vikings didn't often visit. Apparently they needed to "<em>Learn how teh survive outside o' civilization.<em>"

She rolled her eyes at that. They were Vikings, they weren't _civilized_. Moreover, they could take care of themselves. _She_ was going because Gobber was scheduled to take the other teens, and Astrid would_ not_ be upstaged by them. And there was always the chance of finding the dragon that took Hiccup, a thought she'd become obsessed with for no obvious reason. Really, she had no idea why.

She touched the black disc that hung around her neck and murmured. "I'm gonna kill you, dragon."

"Okay. I'm ready." She said to herself, closing the pack. She swung it over her shoulder and made her way down to the harbour.

She was the first teen there by a few minutes. Gobber was busy making sure their ship wouldn't sink or anything, so she stashed her bag under one of the benches in the boat and waited. Fishlegs got there next. No surprise there, he'd been looking forward to this trip for months. Then Snotlout sauntered in, claiming he'd been held up by adoring fans. The twins got there last, arguing and shoving each other as always.

"A'right! Everybody on th' ship!" Gobber shouted when he'd made sure the boat was seaworthy. The other teens stowed their bags under the seats as they sat down.

For the next two days, Astrid tried to ignore the bickering twins and Snotlout's piteous attempts to woe her, because if she didn't she would have to murder somebody, and focused on rowing. The highlight of those two days was the time Ruff shoved her brother into Snotlout, who tumbled overboard.

In other words, sailing was boring as Hel and Astrid wished there were a better way to travel. It was too bad Vikings didn't have wings or something insane like that. Unfortunately, Vikings didn't have wings, unlike dragons, so Vikings built boats and rowed until their arms were being pulled out of their sockets.

She was the first on land when they finally reached their destination, glad for the chance to stretch. She looked around, noticing how different the terrain here was compared to that on Berk. The beach they'd landed on was hard and rocky, not unlike Berk's beaches. But while Berk was fairly mountainous, there were rolling hills there to break it up. Here, the trees grew right off the cliffs in places. This place seemed almost forbidding, with rock spires reaching up toward the sky all around, trees growing wherever their roots could grip.

Gobber set them marching inland as soon as he'd gotten the ship moored securely, so she didn't really have much time to admire the scenery.

Hiccup would have liked it here, Astrid thought randomly as they walked. Hadn't he'd loved wandering through the trees for hours, immersed in his thoughts? Or maybe he'd simply been avoiding the village. Astrid didn't know.

"Are we there yet?" Tuffnut whined, barely five minutes into their hike.

"No," Gobber informed him.

Five minutes later, it was Ruffnut's turn. "Are we there yet?"

"No," Gobber repeated.

"Are we there yet?" Tuffnut asked, five minutes after Ruffnut.

"No," Gobber said.

Five minutes after that, Ruffnut moaned, "Are we there yet?"

"No," Gobber told her patiently. He had practice with this, Hiccup had done the same thing when he was little. Gobber frowned to himself, thinking of his poor apprentice.

"Are we there yet?" Tuffnut asked, right on time.

Astrid gritted her teeth in annoyance as Gobber told him no.

Snotlout started scowling five minutes later, when Ruffnut said, "Are we there yet?"

"No," Gobber replied.

Even Fishlegs looked annoyed, twenty minutes later as they waded through a stream. "Are we there yet?"

"No." Having crossed the stream, the little group resumed their winding path among the trees.

"Are we there yet?" Tuffnut asked as they passed through a small clearing five minutes later.

"Actually... Yes." Gobber informed them gleefully, turning to face them.

"_Finally_!" Snotlout shouted, throwing his pack down. Fishlegs sighed in relief, and Astrid closed her eyes and let out a long breath. The twins snickered, high-fiving each other.

Gobber chuckled, then said, "Well, wha' are yeh waitin' for, a _whistle_? Start settin' up."

Twenty minutes later, four tents had been set up. One for the girls to share, one for Tuffnut and Snotlout, and one each for Fishlegs and Gobber. A fire had been built, but not lit. Gobber said it was unwise to waste wood on a fire nobody needed yet.

Fishlegs was the first to go off on his own, saying he wanted to document some of the flora on the island. Astrid didn't know what that meant, but apparently this island's flora was different from Berk's.

The twins wandered away with the intention of finding something to blow up. Hopefully, it wasn't the boat.

Snotlout looked over at her and opened his mouth, but Astrid blurted, "I'm gonna go train," Before he could say anything.

"A'righ', yeh do that, Astrid," Gobber said from inside his tent, unrolling his sleeping roll with a yawn even though it was only just past noon. "I'm gonna have a nap. Don' go too far, don' get lost, an' watch out for dragons, wolves, an' wild boars."

"I will!" She called over her shoulder, already headed into the trees. She didn't actually feel like training just then, but she needed to get away from Snotlout.

She wandered around for a long while, looking at the scenery and enjoying the quiet. Well, quiet if you ignored the distant shouts of the twins, interspersed with what sounded suspisciously like explosions. Astrid really didn't want to know what they were doing.

Then something on the forest floor caught her eye and she knelt down to get a better look. It was black and shiny. Just like... Her hand flew to the scale around her neck. It was a Night Fury scale. Astrid pushed herself to her feet and ran for the camp.

"Gobber! Gobber, WAKE UP!" She shouted impatiently as she skidded to a stop, panting, outside his tent.

Gobber jolted awake, yelling, "Trolls! _TROLLS_! They're after me socks! Man th' catapults! Get the- Oh, it's you. I though' yeh were off trainin'?" He poked his head out of the tent, pretending he hadn't just been screaming about trolls.

"I found a dragon scale. Black as night." Astrid said breathlessly. She didn't have to say anything else.

"Well, why didn' yah say so, lass?! Let's get th' others t'gether." He climbed out of his tent and yelled, "SNOTLOUT! TWINS! GET YER BUTTS BACK T' CAMP!" Astrid flinched at the sudden volume. "FISHLEGS, YOU TOO!"

Once they were assembled, Snotlout raised a dripping wet hand. "So, why'd you call us back so soon? I was about to kill that dragon, and..." He'd tripped and fallen in the stream, startled, when Gobber called them. He claimed that a dragon chased him in.

"Oh, so yah _don't_ want a chance tae kill an elusive Night Fury?"

Snotlout straightened immediately. "Of- Of course I do!" He paused, thinking hard, then continued in a suspicious voice. "Wait... What does elusive mean?" Fishlegs opened his mouth, but Snotlout cut him off. "And what Night Fury?"

"The one that got Hiccup, you _dolt_." Ruffnut said, rolling her eyes.

"It's mine," Astrid swore.

"Whoa, so we're going after the dragon that killed Hiccup? Finally! I call killing it!" Snotlout shouted, ignoring Astrid for once.

"No." Gobber shot him down. "He was _my_ apprentice, an' _I'll_ kill th' dragon. Snotlout, Fishlegs, you search over there, twins, yah get t' go over _that_ way, I'll go this way, an' Astrid, you take th' path yeh were followin' earlier," Gobber said, pointing in various directions before stomping over to his pack to find his battle axe attachment.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I hope you liked the second chapter of Leaving! :D I'm writing this A/N to let you all know that tomorrow, July 11th, is the second anniversary of the day I published my very first story in the Gilligan's Island fandom where I started out. So, this is for two years of writing!**

**I've also written a special Gilligan's Island oneshot featuring Gilligan's thoughts, which will be published on the 11th, if any of you like Gilligan's Island as much as I do. If you've never heard of it, Gilligan's Island is a great TV show from 1964. The first season is in black and white! (Being that I was born in the late 90's, this is amazing) It features seven castaways stranded on a tropical island and stars clumsy First Mate Gilligan. If you're looking for something to do, I suggest looking it up. You can find the whole show online.**

**Enough about that, though. :D I've been on quite the writing spree lately, and I'm a little bit ahead of schedule in writing this, or I would be if I had a writing schedule... But anyway, I've gotten ahead enough to see that this is going to be different from Run Away in more ways than I'd thought. So, enjoy!**

**I appreciate feedback, but I know everyone asks for reviews and I don't want to be like that. The tiny fandom of Gilligan's Island taught me that the amount of reviews isn't necessarily important, it's the _quality_ of them. And so far, I'm very happy with the response I've gotten!**

**Review or PM me if you want to talk to me about anything! It doesn't have to be about fanfiction at all, it could be a rant over what you think on the little they've released regarding HTTYD 3, (Oh, gods, what they _did_ say, though) or how much you liked The Fault in our Stars (I, personally, loved it.), or a story idea you'd like me to develop. I'm not promising anything there, but I'd love to talk to you!**


	3. You Attacked My Dragon

"Great," Tuffnut said, then turned to challenge his sister. "Race you there?"

"You're on!" Ruffnut yelled, taking off into the trees.

"Hey, wait- No fair!" Tuffnut shouted, running after her.

Astrid turned and hiked back the way she came, ignoring the twins' distant argument over who was winning the race. Sure enough, just a bit farther on from where she found the dragon scale, after splashing through the stream, Astrid found paw prints. They matched the ones she remembered seeing on Berk and she smiled grimly. She didn't see the faint set of human footprints beside them.

The trail ran for only a few meters before petering out, and Astrid looked around for clues as to where the dragon might have gone next. She was standing in front of a rock wall, covered in tangled, leafy vines. Astrid narrowed her eyes, looking up at the cliff face. Maybe it was up there. She grabbed a vine and made to begin climbing when she realized there was no rock where cliff should have been under the vines. A hidden cave?

She pushed the vines aside and marched in fearlessly, axe raised. She stopped a moment later, realizing that she stood in a tunnel, not a cave. There was faint light somewhere ahead of her. Shaking off her surprise, she felt her way forward cautiously until she'd reached the other end and pushed aside another curtain of leafy plants.

Blinking furiously, she let her eyes adjust to the light. What she saw took her breath away. She was looking into a beautiful grotto. There was a stream running down the other side, past a huge slab of rock which stuck up at an odd angle. Sunlight filtered through a canopy of tangled vines, which were held up by thick, half-rotted logs wedged in the rock wall.

The moment she stepped into the light, something growled, then hissed. The Night Fury! Turning, she tightened her grip on the axe, falling instinctively into an aggressive attack stance.

The legendary Night Fury was much smaller than she'd expected, but no less ferocious, for all that it lacked the sharp spines and overgrown teeth that other dragons boasted. It had black scales, large, bat-like wings, and toxic green eyes, narrowed menacingly at her. Astrid grinned fiercely. "Bring it on, dragon." She let out a Viking war cry and charged, only for it to jump away as if it were playing a game of tag. It hissed at her again. She narrowed her eyes and prepared to attack again.

Just as she raised her axe, a hoarse voice rang out. "_Stop_!"

Astrid whirled around, axe raised, to face the owner of the voice. There was a tall, slim figure standing on an outcropping of rock, holding a bow with an arrow already notched and aimed at her. She couldn't see their face, but the voice had been male. He had a dark, scaled cloak draped over him, hood up. From what she could see, he was wearing armour underneath, complete with a helmet that would have hid his face even if the cloak didn't. The entire outfit was made of scales. Black scales, just like the ones on the Night Fury, which had crept around to stand beside the scaled person.

"Who are you?" She asked warily, keeping her axe raised.

"Does that matter?" He asked calmly, his rough voice oddly soothing. "You attacked my dragon." He jumped off the rock, landing in a crouch on the mossy ground beside the Night Fury.

"Your _dragon_?!" Astrid cried, incredulous. "That_ thing_ is a demon! It killed a member of my tribe, it deserves to_ die_!"

"Why would you think that?" The man wondered, putting a gloved hand on the dragon's neck. "He wouldn't hurt you unless I told him to, and he's never killed anyone."

"Yeah, _right_." Astrid muttered sarcastically. "And we kill dragons because they're_ harmless_." The man didn't respond, choosing instead to make some sort of growling, whistling sound. The dragon's ears perked up, and Astrid took a step back. The Night Fury pounced, knocking her axe out of her hands. Weaponless, Astrid backed up a few steps, then turned to run for the tunnel. She knew she was no match for this thing without her axe, but if she could get back to the others, she would survive.

Again, the mysterious person's voice rang out. "Astrid, stop."

Astrid froze. "How do you know my name?" Her mind swirled with questions. _Was this someone she knew? Did they live on Berk? How could they stand next to that beast like that, as if it were a pet? What did they look like, under those scales?_ She blinked, shoving these questions away.

"Does that matter?" The man repeated, sounding amused. "Don't bother trying to escape, by the way. We'll catch you soon enough."

"What are you talking about?" Astrid snapped, turning to face him again. "I'm not your prisoner!"

"You are now," He pointed out. Astrid glared at him.

"I'll escape," She said, crossing her arms.

He snorted. "We'll catch you." He started growling again, and the Night Fury warbled back, to Astrid's surprise.

"What are you doing?" She blurted.

"Talking to him," The man said casually, as if talking to dragons were an every-day activity. The Night Fury slunk off to sniff at a few shallow caves in the side of the grotto, near the stream.

"What is it doing?" Astrid asked warily.

"Finding a suitable cave for your prison cell. It'll be easier to guard you that way." He explained. "You ask a lot of questions, Astrid."

Astrid glared at him. "_How_ do you know my name?"

He shrugged. "Why should _I_ tell _you_?" Astrid couldn't find anything to say to that.

The dragon appeared to have found a satisfactory cave, as it bounded over to Astrid, snarling. She took a few steps away, and it followed her. "I suggest you do as he asks," The man grinned under the mask as the dragon motioned to the cave it had decided on.

Astrid marched over to her new cell, fuming. The scaled man nodded to the dragon and turned, walking away from her and the dragon.

"My friends will come and get me," She blurted, eying the dragon that had settled at the entrance to her cave. There was no _way_ she was going to be left alone with it, if she could help it.

The man paused. "Friends? How many of you are here?"

Astrid narrowed her eyes and repeated what the man had said not two minutes ago. "Why should _I_ tell _you_?"

He turned back and stared at her for a moment, then slowly, said, "How about a trade? I'll tell you who I am,_ if_ you tell me how many of you there are."

Astrid bit her lip. On one hand, knowing who he was might help her escape. On the other, she would lose the advantage of surprise if she told him how many Vikings were here. Her curiosity won out. "Fine. You go first."

"No," The man said, shaking his head. "You first, I'm not an idiot."

Astrid crossed her arms. "Neither am I."

He started laughing. "Good point, Astrid! Very good point."

"Well?" Astrid pressed. He reached up and pulled the helmet off, pushing the hood back in the same motion. Astrid stared at him. He had auburn hair and piercingly brilliant green eyes, as toxic as the dragon's. He did seem strangely familiar, but there was no way she had met him before... She would have remembered. "Who_ are_ you?" Astrid breathed.

He frowned, pouting slightly. It seemed that he'd expected her to recognize him. "I don't look _that_ different, do I?"

"_Who_ _are you_?" Astrid repeated, more forcefully. "I won't say a word about the others until you tell me." The man rolled his eyes, and Astrid was hit with an odd sense of déjà vu. _Had she seen those eyes before..?_

"I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, milady." The man said, bowing mockingly. "Dragon rider, explorer, and blacksmith at your service."

"Hiccup is dead," Astrid told him in a flat voice.

"What? No, I'm not." Hiccup replied, frowning.

"Yes, you- I mean, _he_ is. You're an imposter."

"No, I'm really, very extra sure that I'm not. Tell me, how many Vikings are on my island?"

"Why should I tell _you_?" Astrid asked, glaring at him. "You've taken Hiccup's life and his identity, I shouldn't talk to you at all!"

"Toothless," Hiccup retorted, crossing his arms. The Night Fury's ears pricked up.

Astrid narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out what he meant. "_Toothless?_ What do you-" The dragon started growling at the aggressive tone in her voice. "_Oh_." Astrid said, relenting. "Fine, _imposter_. There are five others, all hunting for _this_ dragon. So you can be sure they're fearless and prepared for a fight!"

"Six Vikings on my island, huh? Just my luck... And _stop calling me that!_ I'm Hiccup!"

"I don't believe you," Astrid said stubbornly.

"Alright, how should I prove it to you?!" Hiccup cried, angry now. How dare she come back into his life and tell him he wasn't himself? "Should I tell you how we were actually friends once, or how you used to beat up Snotlout when he was pushing me around?"

Astrid opened her mouth, but Hiccup had hidden all the hurt away for so long, he was like a haystack going up in flames, and he was not about to let her interrupt. He started gesturing angrily, throwing his arms around and pacing. The dragon watched him, his nose following Hiccup as the man stomped back and forth. Astrid might have found Hiccup's gesturing endearing, if the situation were any different.

"Or maybe I should tell you about the time when we were nine and I brought you flowers because you'd stopped talking to me and I didn't know why? Remember that? You told me you couldn't be friends with a screw up and dropped them in the mud. How about I tell you about all those failed inventions, dragon killing machines I made to impress _you_, to impress the village and my dad?"

He stopped pacing and looked her in the eye, "Or maybe, I should tell you how I_ finally_ shot down a dragon, a Night Fury, and nobody believed me... How I went out to kill it alone and failed. How I became friends with the legendary Night Fury, because _I saw myself in a downed dragon_, and I cut the ropes when I could have killed him? I had nothing to lose, either way! Do you want to hear how I ran away, because I had nothing left for me in Berk and everything with Toothless?"

Astrid stared at him as he took a deep breath to calm himself, emotions flitting across his face. _Anger, disappointment, sadness, annoyance, acceptance, guilt..._ He looked away, the anger gone. "Hiccup?" She asked, hesitantly.

He turned to face her again, running a hand through his hair and looking a bit guilty. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you, Astrid."

"No," Astrid countered, frowning. "It's... It's okay. I deserved it. _I'm_ sorry. I didn't mean to... I mean, before you left. I didn't mean to..." _Didn't mean to what?_ She didn't know what to think, let alone what to say to him.

She had no idea what she was saying, but he smiled. "It's okay. I forgive you." And suddenly, she felt like crying.

"No, Hiccup! You- You can't just forgive me like that, it's not that easy. It_ can't_ be." She swallowed, pushing the feelings away.

Hiccup shrugged, coming closer to stand beside the Night Fury. "It_ is_ that easy. The hard part is accepting that and earning my trust." He rubbed the dragon's nose. "That's how I made friends with Toothless, anyway."

"Toothless," Astrid repeated, staring at him. The absurdity of the dragon's name was enough to clear her head of guilt, for now. "You named it Tooth- Odin's _eyeball_, Hiccup! You're friends with a Night Fury and you named it _Toothless_?!"

Hiccup nodded, but before he could explain, there was a surprised shout and Gobber the Belch fell out of the sky.

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><p><strong>AN: As always, feedback is appreciated, and I'd love to talk to you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)**


	4. I Was Different

Hiccup, Astrid, and Toothless all turned to stare at the fallen Viking. Evidently the netting had fooled him into thinking there was solid ground when there was really only a thirty foot drop in front of him. "Ooh, _that'll_ hurt in th' mornin'," Gobber muttered as he stood, his back facing Hiccup. Hiccup hurriedly shoved his helmet back on. He did _not_ want everyone to know who he was, at least not yet. He wanted the advantage of surprise.

Toothless got to his feet. "~No, Toothless. Stay here and guard Astrid, just in case.~" Hiccup whispered in Dragonese. Toothless lay down again and Hiccup turned to the girl, hissing, "Not a sound, Astrid." Astrid looked like she was going to protest, but Hiccup gestured pointedly at Toothless and she closed her mouth.

Gobber was looking around now, his back still facing them. He gasped when he saw the sheep pen. "Phil! I _knew_ it was trolls tha' got yeh!" Hiccup stifled a laugh, raising his bow.

"Not quite, Gobber," He said wryly, arrow notched and aimed at his former mentor, just in case. Gobber whirled around, battle-axe arm raised. He froze when he saw them: Astrid, obviously a prisoner, standing behind a black beast that could only be a Night Fury and an equally dark, mysterious human, clothed entirely in black scales.

"Who are yeh?" The blacksmith asked after a moment, eying the dragon.

Astrid opened her mouth, and Hiccup turned on her, hissing. "Tell him and you'll never see your tribe again, Astrid." She narrowed her eyes, clearly reluctant to follow his orders, but closed her mouth anyway.

Gobber's eyes widened. That voice... But no, it wasn't. Not only was his apprentice dead, killed by the dragon in front of him, this man's voice was much rougher than Hiccup's had been. And besides that, this man was growling at a dragon. He was pretty sure Hiccup had never done _that_.

The dragon, as if following orders, sent a small blast of destructive flame at Gobber's battle-axe attachment. "Hey!" Gobber cried, watching as his axe literally melted. He was left with a useless metal nub on the end of his arm. "Tha' was my best axe!"

Hiccup switched targets as he responded. "Sorry, Gobber. Wouldn't want you to get hurt. No weapons are allowed on this island without my permission." His arrow was now aimed at Astrid's heart. Toothless began stalking toward Gobber, belly low to the ground.

"What are you aiming at_ me_ for?!" Astrid asked indignantly, glaring at Hiccup.

Hiccup shrugged. "I figured you'd try to run. Can you blame me?" He turned his attention to his former mentor, who was backing away from Toothless. "Gobber, get in here before Toothless gets tired of chasing you. Now! I won't tell you again."

Gobber stared at the Night Fury, who bared his teeth, growling. He put his hands up. "A'right, fine. Yeh win," He joined Astrid in the shallow cave, and Toothless heated the ground at the entrance before curling up again.

"There... That wasn't so hard," Hiccup said pleasantly.

"What are yeh gonna do wi' us?" Gobber asked, glancing nervously at Toothless. Usually, he wouldn't hesitate in tackling a dragon that size with his bare hands, but this was a Night Fury. Who_ knew_ how strong the thing was.

The dragon rider ignored him in favour of chirping at the dragon. The Night Fury got to his feet, and Hiccup pushed the hidden lever that gave Toothless control of his tailfin. Then he nodded, and Toothless unfurled his wings and took off vertically.

"Stop pointing that thing at me," Astrid scowled at Hiccup's bow, crossing her arms. "Where's the dragon going?"

"He's going to find your friends," Hiccup told her, arrow still notched and aimed at her.

"Yeh can relax," Gobber said, narrowing his eyes. "We won't try anythin'."

Hiccup thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. I believe you." He relaxed the bow-string and un-notched the arrow.

"So, eh... Who_ are_ yeh?" Gobber asked.

"Astrid, not a word." Hiccup warned, before she could say anything. "I see no reason to tell you who I am, Gobber."

"Well... Yeh know who_ I_ am," Gobber reasoned. "An' clearly, _Astrid_ knows who yeh are..."

"We made a trade," Astrid muttered. "His name for the knowledge that there are six of us here."

"Ah," Gobber frowned. "Could yeh tell me..?"

"No," Astrid said quickly.

Hiccup crossed his arms. "If she_ does_ tell you, you'll never see her again."

"Oh," Gobber mumbled. "Well, tha's different. I won't ask if you'll_ kill_ her for tellin'."

"I won't kill her," Hiccup said firmly. "She'll be kept prisoner on an island for the rest of her life, guarded by dragons."

"Guarded by_ dragons_?" Astrid repeated, raising her eyebrows. "I've been training my entire life to fight dragons, what makes you think I won't escape?"

"You'll be weaponless, Astrid."

Astrid swallowed. "I won't tell."

"Good to know," Hiccup looked up as the telltale shriek of a diving Night Fury filled the air. With it came Toothless, the twins holding onto his claws for dear life.

The dragon dropped them a few feet off the ground, and their screams stopped as they landed, the wind knocked out of them.

Toothless didn't wait for them to catch their breath, but warbled at Hiccup before taking off again. "~Those two are more trouble than a Zippleback, Hiccup! Do we_ have_ to keep them?~"

Hiccup laughed, watching him fly off in search of Fishlegs.

Astrid scowled at him. "What, did it say something funny?"

"Yeah," Hiccup told her, still chuckling. "He doesn't want to keep the twins. Too much trouble."

Gobber gaped at him. "Are yeh sayin' yeh can_ understand_ th' beasts?"

Hiccup was silent for a moment, thinking. Then he said, slowly, "Why should I tell you that?" Astrid glared at him, and he sighed. "Fine, fine. Yes, I can talk to dragons. There's not much point in keeping _that_ a secret anyway."

Tuffnut sat up and looked over at them. "Hey, uh... Scaly dragon person. Where are we?"

Ruffnut rolled over, looking up at the sky. "Nevermind that, idiot. Are we_ alive_?"

"Oh, you're alive all right," Astrid muttered. "For now."

Hiccup shot her a look. "For now?" Ruffnut repeated, sitting up as well. "What's that mean?"

"My dragon doesn't like you, that's what it means." Hiccup told her, notching an arrow to his bow again, just in case. "To be honest, neither do I."

"Traitor," Astrid mumbled.

"Another word and you'll never see them again, Astrid..." Hiccup whispered. She shot him a dirty look.

"Wait," Tuffnut said, getting to his feet. "_Your_ dragon? You mean, like, the _Night Fury_?"

"Yes," Hiccup grinned. "That one. He thinks you're more trouble than a Zippleback and I have to agree."

"Whoa," Ruffnut's eyes widened. "You can hear its_ thoughts_?"

"What am I thinking?" Tuffnut asked, putting on a look of intense concentration.

"You're thinking of how much chaos you could cause if_ you_ could read minds." Hiccup deadpanned, rolling his eyes.

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Tuffnut gasped. "It's like you'd known me all my life!"

"You have_ no_ idea," Hiccup said wryly, glancing at Astrid. "But, as I was saying, my dragon told me what he was thinking. I didn't read his..." He trailed off as Toothess swooped in, Snotlout in his grasp.

"~_Please_ tell me we don't have to keep this one, Hiccup." Toothless begged, dumping Snotlout at Hiccup's feet. "Please,_ please_ let me leave him on an island with a territorial Nightmare or two!~"

Hiccup laughed. "~Wish we _could_ leave him to the Nightmares, Toothless. Meet my cousin, Snotlout.~"

"~You're kidding,~" Toothless said, giving Hiccup a pleading look.

Hiccup shrugged helplessly, then turned to the Vikings, grinning as Toothless started cursing all Vikingkind under his breath, particularily Hiccup's cousin.

"What's it saying now?" Gobber asked.

"Well, it's not complimentary to Vikings," Hiccup warned, chuckling. "Especially not to Snotlout." Toothless huffed, lanching himself into the air again.

"Uh, who are you?" Snotlout asked, getting to his feet. He was confident now that the dragon was gone.

"I could ask you the same thing," Hiccup said calmly, knowing he had to impress Snotlout to keep him from attacking. Sort of like a Nightmare, actually. "Except I already know who_ you_ are, Snotlout Jorgenson."

"You know my name... "Snotlout said, stating the obvious. "_How_ do you know my name?"

"Well..." Hiccup started, bringing his bow up to aim at Astrid when it looked like she was going to make a break for it. "You might say I've known you for a long time."

"I've never seen you before in my life!" Snotlout insisted, glancing worriedly between Hiccup's bow and Astrid.

"You_ could_ say that," Hiccup allowed, tilting his head. It was true that his cousin had never seen this side of him before. "Though it's not strictly true."

"You think I'd forget someone who wears _dragon scales_?" Snotlout stared at him.

"Yeah," Tuffnut agreed. "I've never forgotten_ anyone_ who can read dragon's minds, I know that!"

"Idiot," Ruffnut scoffed. "He can't read minds, didn't you hear him? He understands what they're saying!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "You knew me once," He said indifferently. Astrid was the only one who caught the undertone of regret in his voice. "A long time ago."

"What happened?" Astrid asked, speaking up for the first time since the twins were brought in.

"I was different," Hiccup said bitterly. "So I left."

Gobber looked like he was starting to put things together. "How long ago did yeh leave, exactly?" He asked.

Hiccup's eyes narrowed. "Long enough."

"You didn't tell us who you are," Snotlout said, flexing his muscles in case Astrid was looking.

"I don't intend to," Hiccup told him flatly. "It's better this way."

"Better?" Astrid asked, shaking her head. "You think_ this_ is _better_?"

"Astrid, you _know_ I was hated. You know who I was. Do you_ honestly_ think things were better then?"

"Yes, I_ do_!" Astrid cried.

Hiccup stared at her. "You really think it was better..." He muttered after a moment. "Why?"

"I..." Astrid tried to find the right words. "I'm not sure."

Hiccup opened his mouth, then closed it, looking toward the tunnel. He'd heard something. Just then, Fishlegs burst through the vine curtain. He was followed by a playful Night Fury, who had his tongue out and kept stopping to wiggle his butt in the air.

"~I_ like_ this one,~" Toothless chirped, padding over to Hiccup. "~_He_ knows I'm amazing.~"

"~Please, Toothless. If you're amazing, I'm _magnificent_,~" Hiccup teased. "~But putting your ego aside, good job, Bud. That's Fishlegs.~"

"~You, magnificent?~" Toothless teased back, grinning toothily. Hiccup pushed his head away, laughing, then turned to talk to the Vikings again.

"Good afternoon, Fishlegs." Hiccup said in Norse as the Viking got to his feet.

"Oh gods, oh gods, _oh gods_..." Fishlegs mumbled frantically to himself, staring at the Night Fury and his scaled rider.

"Fishlegs, calm down." Hiccup advised. "I'm not going to kill you, and neither is Toothless."

"You aren't?" Fishlegs asked, relieved. "I was worried for a moment."

"Wait. If you_ aren't_ gonna kill us-" Tuffnut started.

"What _are_ you gonna do with us?" Ruffnut interrupted, finishing her brother's sentence.

"Well..." Hiccup said thoughtfully. "I'm going to show you what dragons are _really_ like."

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><p><strong>AN: hope you enjoyed this chapter! It felt a bit off to me yesterday, but it seems fine today. Feedback is appreciated, as always!**


	5. You Do Look Different

They were silent for a moment.

Gobber broke the silence. "Yeh mean what yeh _think_ they're like. Dragons are bloodthirsty beasts, they live only t' kill an' eat our food, they-"

"Stop." Hiccup said coldly. "They're not like that."

"Yeh won't convince_ me_ o' that," Gobber muttered. "Blasted beasts took two o' my limbs, if yeh hadn't noticed!"

"Let me tell you something." Hiccup said sharply. "For years, I lived with mindless, bloodthirsty creatures. I lived with _you_! You Vikings brought everything on yourselves. _You_ attack the dragons, they _defend_ themselves, that's all!"

Astrid stared at him. The Hiccup _she_ knew didn't think like this. But then... The Hiccup she knew had been eight years old and trying his best, always, to impress his dad and the village.

"You're defending them?!" Snotlout exclaimed, disgusted. "Look, whoever you are, you're wrong. They killed half my family, they deserve to die. _Especially_ this one." He jerked his thumb at Toothless. "That one killed my cousin, Hiccup."

"You mean Hiccup the Useless?" Hiccup said flatly. "You bullied him all his life. You called him names, you pushed him around, you teased him. You can't make me believe_ you_, of all people, cared about_ Hiccup_."

Snotlout looked down. "I- Yeah, sure. He was useless. He wasn't good at anything. But he was still my cousin, you know?"

"He was my apprentice," Gobber put in. "Still expect him to come runnin' into th' forge every day with a sarcastic comment o' some sort, an' it's been three years."

"I used to be friends with him," Fishlegs mumbled, looking at the ground.

"I didn't talk to him much," Tuffnut shrugged. "He destroyed stuff a lot, though. That was cool."

"Yeah," Ruffnut chimed in. "Hey, remember the time he set a yak on fire by accident?"

"Look, we care. Now just take the stupid helmet off," Astrid snapped.

He stared at them all for a moment. "Fine," He decided, after an uncomfortably long silence. He reached up and pulled the helmet off.

Astrid swore she saw Ruffnut melt out of the corner of her eye. Alright, she had to admit... Hiccup looked good. But she wasn't about to go all gooey like Ruffnut.

Hiccup fidgeted, uncomfortable with having everyone staring at him. "Um... Hi."

"I still don't know you," Tuffnut decided.

"I know him less," Ruffnut challenged.

"No, I do!"

Snotlout shrugged. "You look sort of familiar, but... I don't know you."

Fishlegs shook his head, agreeing with the others.

"Wait..." Gobber's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, then he blinked as if dismissing the thought. "Nah... Yeh couldn't be."

"Couldn't be who?" Hiccup asked, tilting his head.

"Hiccup," Gobber answered. "Y'know, the one we were talkin' about earlier. But yeh couldn't be him."

"Why not?" Hiccup's lips twitched into a smirk.

"He tried t' kill dragons all his life. He was a Viking, y'see. Jus' like his dad."

The smirk disappeared and the dragon rider's voice became cold. "Maybe he changed. Maybe he took your advice and stopped being _all that_," Hiccup gestured at himself. "Maybe he downed that dragon, just like he told you he did, and learned to fly!" Gobber seemed lost for words.

"Hiccup?!" Snotlout exclaimed, when the blacksmith said nothing. "_You're_ Hiccup?"

"Yes, I'm Hiccup." He admitted, biting his lip.

"You look really different," Fishlegs offered.

"Yeah! I didn't recognize you!" Tuffnut claimed.

"Neither did I," Ruffnut said in a strange voice, still staring at Hiccup.

"~You _do_ look different,~" Toothless chimed in thoughtfully, tilting his head as he surveyed his rider.

"~Oh, not you too,"~" Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Hiccup..." Gobber took a step toward his apprentice, then stopped, looking helplessly at the dragon beside him and at the scales Hiccup wore. "You're _alive_?"

"So I've heard," Hiccup said dryly.

"You're really alive," Gobber said, looking Hiccup in the eyes. "May I ask, ah... How'd you tame a Night Fury, of all things?"

Hiccup grinned. "Toothless? He's my best friend!"

"I see," Gobber said, in a voice that made it obvious that he did_ not_ see. "Um, you named it _Toothless_, huh? Misnomer, was it?"

"Nah, retractable teeth. Show 'em, Bud!" Toothless opened his mouth so the Vikings could see his gums, then flashed his teeth at them.

"Ah," Gobber said, taking a deep breath. "I see. Hiccup, you said... You said you aren't a Viking."

Hiccup's smile disappeared, and he eyed Gobber warily, wondering where this was going. "I did say that, yes."

"Are you _sure_ about that, Hiccup?" Gobber asked seriously. "You can come back with us, say that th' beasts were keepin' you prisoner. You could be-"

"No." Hiccup cut him off in a low voice, putting his hand on Toothless's head. "I won't go back there. Don't you understand, Gobber? I'm free."

Gobber stared at him. "Free?"

"You know what it was like in Berk," Hiccup said vehemently. "I was useless, I was hated. I was a menace, a disappointment, a joke. Here... Here I'm not. I belong here, with Toothless!"

"You want to stay here," Snotlout said flatly.

Hiccup nodded. "I will never go back to Berk," He swore.

"What about us?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup shrugged. "What about you? You're my prisoners."

"Wow. This is lame," Tuffnut said, slouching. "I thought you were someone _cool_. Like, I wanna be a prisoner to someone awesome... Right, Ruff?"

"I don't mind this at _all_," Ruffnut said dreamily, sidling closer to Hiccup. Fishlegs looked slightly disappointed, and Hiccup looked uncomfortable. Tuffnut mimed gagging.

"Wha' about yer father, Hiccup?" Gobber asked. Maybe he could change Hiccup's mind. "Don't yeh want t' see 'im again? He misses you."

"No he doesn't." Hiccup said coldly. "My dad is the reason I left in the first place."

"That's not true," Astrid frowned. "It was my fault. I chased you out, remember?"

Hiccup waved her off. "I remember, Astrid. You were the catalyst. But I wouldn't have left if my dad had listened to me, especially when I told him I didn't want to fight dragons."

Gobber's brow furrowed. "When did yeh do _that_?"

Hiccup huffed. "The night before dragon training was supposed to start, right after I cut Toothless free instead of killing him. "

"Oh..." Gobber shifted uncomfortably. "Tha' might've been my fault... Yeh see, I convinced 'im t' let you join dragon trainin'."

"Oh," Hiccup said, a sarcastic tone creeping into his voice. "Thank you for that, Gobber."

"Wait a minute," Fishlegs frowned. "Dragons are always supposed to go for the kill, right? Why didn't yours?"

Hiccup brightened. "That was the first thing I learned about dragons after shooting Toothless down. Dragons don't always go for the kill."

"Then what do yeh call all those raids, every year?" Gobber exclaimed angrily, staring at Hiccup. "What about my arm an' leg? Beasts sure as Hel didn't _ask nicely _before eatin' 'em!"

Hiccup returned the old blacksmith's challenging look. "They've got a _reason_ for attacking, Gobber. A damn good one, about as tall as that cliff up there, and always hungry." He gestured carelessly at one of the higher peaks visible over the rim of the grotto.

"What are you talking about?" Snotlout asked, furrowing his brow. "Nothing's that tall."

Hiccup met his cousin's eyes solemnly. "_Something_ is. Toothless and I were almost eaten by the thing once. It's a dragon, and the other dragons-"

"A dragon?" Snotlout interjected. "We can take it. Easy."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"Um, is it... Really as tall as that cliff?"

"If it's tha' big, we'd _know_ about it." Gobber reasoned. "I think yeh're makin' it up!"

"It lives in the Nest," Hiccup told him. "You've never been there."

"Yeh've been t' the _Nest!?"_ Gobber exclaimed. "Oh, wait 'til yer_ father_ hears about this!"

"Well, he _won't_ hear about it." Hiccup snapped, wishing he'd kept his mouth shut.

"He's got to!" Astrid protested. "You know where the Nest is! If we attack it, the dragons will stop raiding!"

Hiccup glared at her. "If I took you there, all of you, the entire tribe, would die."

"I'm willin' t' take tha' risk, an' so is every other warrior in Berk!" Gobber proclaimed grimly.

"I said no." Hiccup said, voice low.

"Why?" Astrid crossed her arms. "You said it yourself, you're not a Viking. Why should _you_ care if we die bringing peace to Berk?"

Hiccup stared at her for a long moment, then shrugged. "I don't know."

"That's not an answer," Astrid pressed.

Hiccup gave her an irritated glance. "It's the_ truth_. I don't know why I care about your tribe. All you've ever done was make me feel unwelcome."

"Is it yer dad?" Gobber guessed. "He's got 'is faults, sure, but he's still your father."

Hiccup hesitated. "It might... I- Maybe, Gobber. Or," His voice became sarcastic. "Maybe I need you around to steal from. Has any leather gone missing from the tannery recently? Some scrap metal from your shop?"

Gobber rolled his eyes. "Stuff like that's been goin' missing since yeh started makin' things."

Hiccup shrugged, happy that his conversation changer had worked. "I needed material for my inventions. Where else was I supposed to get it?"

"Are we gonna do something about the giant dragon or not?" Snotlout broke in, annoyed.

"Oh, can we blow it up?" Tuffnut's eyes lit up. "Please?"

"I said_ no_!" Hiccup shouted. "I am_ not_ going to let you all die like that!"

"It's not like you have to come with us," Fishlegs reasoned. "Just tell us how to get there... And we'll leave you alone."

Hiccup shook his head. "No! For multiple reasons, no. One, if you_ do_ get there, I won't have a tribe to steal from anymore. Two, the raiding dragons won't have anywhere to get easy meat, and they'll be eaten. Three, you need a dragon to _get_ there

and I-" He stopped suddenly, wondering if they'd caught his slip-up. They had.

"A dragon?" Astrid asked. "Only a dragon can find the Nest?"

Hiccup deflated. "Yes. Only a dragon can find the Nest."

"Perfect," Gobber said in satisfaction. "Now all _we_ need is a dragon." Most of the Vikings glanced at Toothless. Tuffnut looked up at the sky, as if expecting to find a Terror flying overhead within easy grabbing distance.


	6. Dragon Slobber

"Oh, no." Hiccup said, narrowing his eyes. "You are _not_ taking Toothless." The dragon in question flattened his ears back and snarled in agreement.

"We'll bring him back when we're done with him," Fishlegs offered.

"And_ I'm_ a Roman emperor," Hiccup snarked. "My answer is still no."

"Well, what do you suppose we do?" Astrid challenged. "If we don't drive those dragons away, we'll starve. You know that, Hiccup."

"Yeah, I also know that you're going to die if you find that nest."

"As yer father always says, it's an occupational hazard." Gobber observed. Hiccup shrugged. "Look, Hiccup. Either we try t' take the nest or we keep starvin' and sendin' boats out t' look for it. Either way, people are dyin'."

Hiccup was quiet for a long moment. "Alright, fine. I'll help you, on one condition," He decided.

"What's the condition?" Astrid asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hiccup smirked. "You'll be working with dragons."

"Working with..? You have got to be kidding me," Astrid snapped.

"~They won't agree,~" Toothless said, looking at the obstinate expressions on the Vikings' faces.

"~Yeah they will,~" Hiccup told him. "~They don't have a choice. Trust me.~"

"~I do,~" Toothless mumbled, mostly to himself. "~But I _don't_ see why they'd agree.~"

"No joke," Hiccup said in Norse as he turned his attention back to the Vikings. "You'll have to work with them, fly with them, and fight with them."

"You want us to _fly_ on _dragons_?!" Fishlegs exclaimed, his voice going several octaves higher than normal. "Do you grasp how insanely _dangerous_ that sounds?!"

Toothless let out a dragonish laugh and Hiccup snorted. "Do _I_ know how dangerous it is?" He scratched Toothless's neck. "Toothless and I fly every day, Fishlegs."

"~To be fair, we did have some trouble at first,~" Toothless reflected. "~But it wasn't that bad.~"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "~You _would_ say that after nearly dying several times.~"

"What's it saying?" Tuffnut asked eagerly.

"_He_ is trying to pass nearly falling to our deaths as 'some trouble.'" Hiccup replied, rolling his eyes again.

"Falling to your..?" Fishlegs's eyes went wide. "And you want _us_ to..?"

"No, no." Hiccup waved him off. "We only had trouble 'cause I hadn't figured out how to operate the prosthetic yet, and I kept getting the positions wrong, so..."

"Prosthetic?" Gobber asked, frowning. He didn't see any missing limbs, and he considered himself an expert on the subject.

"Yeah," Hiccup said, looking remorseful. "When I shot Toothless down, his tail..." Toothless lifted his tail, showing off the fins. "Well, one of his tailfins was ripped off." Hiccup explained. "I made him a new one."

Gobber looked closer at the dragon's tail, but saw no difference between the fins. "Are yeh sayin' it grew back since then?"

"I wish," Hiccup said. "But no, the left one is fake. I sewed some of Toothless's discarded scales to it so it'd blend in."

Gobber shook his head at his former apprentice's ingenuity. "Only you, Hiccup."

"What makes you think we'll agree to fly dragons?" Astrid asked, bringing the conversation back on track.

Hiccup shrugged. "If you don't agree, I won't help you."

"Then we agree!" Snotlout cried, tired of waiting. "When can we leave?"

"Snotlout!" Astrid scolded, frowning at him.

"I agree too," Tuffnut declared enthusiastically, then paused. "What'd I just agree to?"

"I'll go _anywhere_ with you," Ruffnut purred, ogling at Hiccup.

"Uhh, okay," Hiccup said awkwardly, then turned away from the girl twin. "Fishlegs, Gobber?"

Fishlegs hesitated, then sighed. "I'll work with the dragons."

Gobber nodded. "Anythin' to find th' Nest. Count me in."

Hiccup turned to stare at Astrid expectantly. "Astrid?"

"You're insane," Astrid breathed, taking a deep breath. "I'm in."

"~Told you,~" Hiccup declared to Toothless, grinning.

Toothless crouched playfully. "~Alright, you won_ that_ time,~" He pounced, knocking Hiccup onto his back. "~But not this time!~" He licked Hiccup's face for emphasis.

"Aww, Toothless!" Hiccup exclaimed, forgetting to use Dragonese. "Gross!" Toothless laughed, licking him again. Hiccup laughed, struggling half-heartedly to get away.

Toothless let him up, smirking as he took in the shocked expressions the Vikings were wearing. "~I win,~"

Hiccup scowled, ignoring the Vikings as he tried to wipe some of Toothless's saliva off of himself.

"Ew, gross!" Tuffnut said, looking delighted. "Dragon slobber."

"It didn't kill him," Astrid murmured. When the dragon had pounced, she'd been sure that she would hear Hiccup's screams a second later.

Hiccup, hearing her, looked up. "Of course he didn't. He's my best friend, even if he_ does_ like to slobber all over me." He directed the last part of his sentence at Toothless, who tilted his head innocently. "Oh, don't give me that. I know you understand Norse just as well as_ I_ do!" Toothless gave him a dragonish smirk.

"He understands Norse?" Fishlegs asked. Both Hiccup and Toothless nodded, Toothless adding a chuffing, whistling sound to the conversation and narrowing his eyes slightly.

Speaking Norse for the Vikings benefit, Hiccup replied, "Oh, he didn't know better, Toothless. You know that!"

"What'd he say?" Ruffnut asked, actually interested.

"Well, he didn't like how surprised you were, Fishlegs." Hiccup sent Toothless a look. "And he _wasn't_ being polite."

"Oh," Fishlegs muttered. "Um, sorry."

Toothless's ears perked up a bit as he chirped his acceptance of Fishlegs's apology. To Hiccup, he added, "~This one isn't so bad, for a Viking.~"

Hiccup grinned, translating for Fishlegs. "He says thanks for apologizing, and you've gotten his approval, sort of."

"Sort of?" Gobber questioned.

"Yeah," Hiccup said. "Toothless likes apologies."

Toothless huffed a bit. "~I do not. I just like that they know they're wrong."

Hiccup chuckled. "I take that back, he says he appreciates people knowing that they're wrong."

"~By the way, I expect the other ones to apologize too. Especially the girl and your cousin, Hiccup.~"

"What's he saying now?" Tuffnut asked, when Hiccup didn't translate immediately.

"Oh, um." Hiccup glanced at Astrid. "He, uh.. He wants Astrid and Snotlout to say they're sorry." Toothless made a 'go on' gesture. "And everyone else, too," Hiccup added dutifully, taking a large step away from Astrid.

"You're telling me a _dragon_ is asking _me_ to_ apologize_?!" Astrid burst out incredulously. "To _you_?!"

Snotlout was only a few seconds behind her. "Yeah, no way! It's a_ dragon_. Why should_ I_ say sorry to a _dragon_?!"

Hiccup shrugged. "I didn't think you'd be happy about that." Toothless growled, and Hiccup rolled his eyes, replying with a series of chirps and grunts. "~Look, Toothless. I knew they'd be like that. It doesn't matter.~"

"~_Doesn't matter_,~" Toothless grumbled. "~Of course it matters! When a dragon does something wrong, they apologize! I don't see what's so different about Vikings.~"

"~Oh, I get it. It's a dragon thing,~" Hiccup nodded. "~It's just different, Toothless. Vikings can't get past their pride, so we- I mean,_ they_ usually just leave apologies and stuff unsaid. It's okay.~"

"What's goin' on now?" Gobber asked as Toothless relaxed a bit. It was odd and unsettling to hear such dragonish noises coming from a human.

"Toothless doesn't get why Vikings don't apologize to each other very much," Hiccup explained, rolling his eyes.

Astrid was still fuming. "It's bad enough that you want us to_ work_ with dragons, but now a Night Fury wants me to apologize to _you_?"

"Yeah!" Snotlout added.

Toothless hissed. "Toothless says, _'Yes,'_" Hiccup translated, raising an eyebrow.

"'Bout this workin' with dragons," Gobber said. "How is it goin' to happen?"

"I'll take you to meet my friends," Hiccup replied, looking away from Astrid. "And then I'll show you how to bond with them."

"How to bond with them?" Astrid repeated, raising her eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"Well... You put your trust in one another. And after that, you're friends." Hiccup tried to explain. "It's... It's a dragon thing."

"Oh," Astrid mumbled, then she frowned. "You want me to trust a _dragon_?!"

Hiccup nodded calmly. "I figure you'd be best with the Nadder. You're both fierce and... Um." He stopped suddenly, face going slightly red.

"Fierce and what?" Astrid asked, narrowing her eyes. _If he said vain..._

"Pretty," Hiccup blurted, throwing caution to the winds. "Fierce and pretty."

"Oh." Astrid said, looking surprised. "Um, thanks." Her cheeks went a little pink as well.

Hiccup nodded. "We should get started. Astrid, you're first. I want to do this one at a time."

"First..." Astrid's eyes widened. "_Oh_. Um, alright." She tried to hide her trepidation.

Hiccup smiled. "Don't worry, Astrid. Come on, Toothless." He slid into Toothless's saddle, then motioned for Astrid to join him.

"~I hope you don't think this will be an easy ride,~" Toothless warned. "~She hasn't apologized yet.~"

"~Toothless...~" Hiccup began.

He was interrupted by Gobber. "Wha' makes yeh think we won't try t' escape while yeh're gone?"

Hiccup blinked. "Well, if you do, Astrid won't be joining you. And besides, I'm sending Toothless back to guard you as soon as I can."

Gobber sighed. The boy had a point. "A'right, we won't try anythin'."

"Good," Hiccup said, looking pleased. "Astrid?"

Astrid took a deep breath as she hesitantly stepped forward and climbed onto Toothless's back, just behind Hiccup. "Okay," She said finally. "I'm ready."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey! I'm sorry this chapter's a little short, but I've been a bit distracted lately... My friend introduced me to an old TV show, Hogan's Heroes, and it got me thinking about where my family came from. At the time I had no idea, though I figured my family was from Europe like most people here are. Nobody ever told me or my sister until today... Turns out I was right, my family is from Europe. I had no idea what country before now, though. Apparently, my family has Russian roots, and lived in Germany for a while before moving to America. It's very interesting.**


	7. Open Your Eyes

"Hold on," Hiccup warned, putting his helmet back on as Toothless spread his wings.

"To _what_?" Astrid retorted, nervous. She wanted nothing more than to get as far away from this situation as possible.

"Just_ do it_ before you fall off!" Hiccup ordered. Astrid hesitantly put her hands on his shoulders just as Toothless launched himself upwards.

Astrid screamed, clamping her arms and legs around Hiccup. _Gods, don't let me fall._

"~Toothless!~" Hiccup yelled, very much aware of the girl clinging to him like a limpet as the Night Fury spiralled upwards, ascending with alarming speed.

"~Relax,~" Toothless called, turning upside down. "~You're strapped in, aren't you?~" He righted himself hastily in case Hiccup _wasn't_ strapped in.

"~That's -ow- not the problem!~" Hiccup yelped as Astrid's foot slipped against his scaled clothing and pressed into his lap.

Toothless slowed as they flew up into the clouds. "~If that's not it, what is?~"

"~Nothing! Um, _really_ just- Nothing...~" Hiccup grunted as Astrid tightened her grip, foot pressing more firmly into him as she did. "~I just don't think this is _helping_...~"

"~Are you sure it's nothing?~" Toothless asked, glancing back at his rider. He couldn't see through the thick cloud they were in, but Hiccup's voice had been a bit strained.

To be honest, it might have been best that the clouds were so thick. If Toothless had been able to see, he would have seen a large, four-winged dragon flying off in the distance, and Astrid would have been dropped off on a rock somewhere while Hiccup and Toothless went to investigate. As it was, Toothless couldn't see more than two feet in front of him through the water vapor.

"~I think I'm turning blue,~" Hiccup muttered as Toothless came out above the clouds and leveled off. Astrid stopped screaming to take a deep, terrified breath, and Hiccup took the opportunity to console her. "It's alright, Astrid. He won't hurt you."

"Won't hurt me," Astrid repeated shakily. "Yeah, _right_."

Hiccup shifted slightly. "Really, Astrid. Toothless-"

Toothless took that moment to fold in his wings. "~Were you saying something?~" He called innocently, as they fell from the sky.

Astrid buried her face in Hiccup's neck, completely unaware of the effect she was having on him. "~Yes, I _was_!~" Hiccup yelled breathlessly. "~She's strangl-hmm!~"

"~What?~" Toothless glanced over his shoulder again, chuckling at Hiccup's obvious discomfort. Astrid's hand had slipped over the boy's mouth as she endeavored to fasten herself more securely to him. "~Alright, fine. I'll stop, but you look like you could use a cold bath.~" Toothless looked down at the rapidly approaching ocean and grinned.

* * *

><p>"~I am not amused,~" Hiccup stated fifteen minutes later as he slid off of Toothless's back, dripping wet. He turned to help Astrid down.<p>

Toothless snorted, shaking himself dry. "~You needed it. And _she_ still needs to apologize!~"

"~She _did_ apologize,~" Hiccup mumbled, shaking water off of himself like Toothless had.

Toothless huffed. "~She didn't apologize for _everything_, just for ignoring you.~"

"~Oh, give it up, Toothless!~" Hiccup said, rolling his eyes.

"What are you saying?" Astrid asked, shivering.

"He's just being annoying," Hiccup grumbled. Toothless swatted him with his tail, and Hiccup crossed his arms. "Well, you_ are_, Toothless!"

"Oh." Astrid rubbed her arms for warmth as she looked around. "Um, is this where your friends live?"

"Yeah," Hiccup pointed a few yards away. "There's a cave in the hill, it'll be warm inside."

Astrid nodded, trying not to think of the source of that warmth. "We're going in there?"

Hiccup nodded. "Come on. I'd rather not freeze to death today."

Astrid followed him around the side of the hill, and only hesitated a moment before stepping into the warm, shadowy cavern.

She couldn't see Hiccup in his black scaled outfit, nor could she see his equally dark dragon. "Hiccup?" She whispered.

"Shh," Came the answer, followed by a low crooning sound. "~Nadder? Nightmare, where are you? Zippleback? Gronkle? Come out, it's me and Toothless.~"

"~Yes, but you brought someone with you,~" A voice murmured from the shadows.

"~It's a Viking,~" Another said disapprovingly. "~I can smell it.~ / ~You're right. I can smell it too,~"

"~It's okay,~" Hiccup promised. "~This is Astrid, she was in Dragon Training when I was in Berk. Do you remember her?~"

"~_I_ remember,~" The first voice said after a moment. "~She hit me with her axe.~"

"~See, Hiccup? She's mean,~" Toothless complained, curling up on a warm stone.

"What's going on?" Astrid whispered, straining to see through the shadows. She could feel several pairs of eyes on her.

"Shh, Astrid!" Hiccup told her.

"~Why did you bring her here?~" A new voice asked.

"~I'm going to teach her not to hate dragons,~" Hiccup explained. "~She doesn't understand.~"

"~How are you going to do that?~" a fourth voice broke in.

Hiccup shrugged. "~I'll show her. Will you help?~"

"Hiccup..?" Astrid whispered, wondering what was being said.

"~I'll help,~" The Nadder volunteered after a long moment.

Hiccup grinned. "Astrid, come here. I want you to meet someone."

"Hiccup, I can't see you." Astrid murmured. "Where are you?"

"Here," Hiccup's voice came from just beside her this time. He took her hand and started to pull her along.

"What's happening?" Astrid asked, letting him guide her.

"Here, put out your arm, like.. Yeah, that's it." Hiccup instructed, not answering her question.

A moment later, there was something warm and dry touching her hand. "What- What is that?" Astrid strained to see.

Beside her, Hiccup grinned. He'd spent a lot of time in that dark cave over the past three years, and he'd learned how to use his other senses to navigate. "That's a dragon," He told her.

"What?!" Astrid drew her hand back quickly. The dragon huffed, shaking her head.

"Hey, no! No, it's okay. Put your hand out again, Astrid. She won't hurt you." Hiccup promised, guiding her arm back to the Nadder's nose.

Astrid took a deep breath. "What... What kind of dragon is this?" She asked after a long moment, feeling the scales under her fingers.

"She's a Nadder," Hiccup said. "You've met her before, you know."

"I have?" Astrid couldn't remember meeting a dragon that didn't try to attack.

"Sure. She's the Nadder you trained against, remember?" Hiccup explained. "You hit her the day I left. You hurt her."

The Nadder nuzzled Astrid's hand, warbling softly. "What's she saying?" Astrid asked, wondering how she could have hurt such an amazing creature.

"She forgives you." Hiccup said. "Do you want to go back to the others now?"

Astrid bit her lip. How could she go back to Berk now, knowing that her whole world was wrong? "Can I see her?"

"~Here, this should help,~" The Nightmare spoke up as she ignited herself a short distance away.

"~Thanks,~" Hiccup said to the Nightmare as Astrid jumped back in surprise. "It's okay, Astrid. She only wanted to give you some light."

"Oh." Astrid said, staring at the Nightmare. "She understood me, just like Toothless?" Her eyes went wide when the Nightmare nodded. "Wow."

"You wanted to see the Nadder, right?" Hiccup grinned, standing behind her.

Astrid nodded, turning toward him and seeing the Nadder not two feet away. "Wow," She repeated. "What's... What's her name?"

"She doesn't have one," Hiccup said, shrugging. "I just call her Nadder."

"~She can give me one, if she wants,~" The Nadder said, nudging Astrid's hand.

Hiccup translated, and Astrid's eyes widened again. "I can?" The Nadder nodded, and Astrid smiled at her. "I'll think about it, okay? I- I don't want to give you the wrong name."

Hiccup grinned, realizing that this was the first time Astrid had spoken directly to a dragon. "~Would you like to take her for a ride?~" He asked the Nadder.

The colourful dragon bobbed her head. "~Do you think she'd mind?~"

Hiccup smirked under his helmet. "~The only dragon Astrid's ever been on is Toothless, and he wasn't being gentle. She'll be nervous, but I don't think she'll mind.~"

"~She deserved it,~" Toothless muttered.

"Astrid, she'd like to fly with you," Hiccup explained in Norse, shooting Toothless a look.

"Fly?" Astrid repeated, taking a step back. The Nadder crooned, bobbing her head again. "I- You mean, on her back, without you?"

Hiccup nodded. "That's about it, yeah. Believe me, Astrid, it won't be like the trip here. Toothless's holding a grudge."

Astrid found herself nodding. "Okay." The Nadder stood up and padded out of the cave, stretching her wings. Hiccup and Astrid followed, Toothless stretching before slinking out after them.

"~Toothless, come here a minute, will you?~" Hiccup called. Toothless ambled over, and Hiccup pulled a length of rope out of Toothless's saddlebag.

"How do I get on?" Astrid asked, running her hand nervously over the spiked dragon's nose. The Nadder bent down, unfurling one wing so she could get on easily. "Thanks," Astrid told her as she climbed up to the dragon's back.

"Here," Hiccup said, holding the rope out. "You'll need something to hold on to." Astrid leaned down and took it from him, quickly tying the rope into a sort of makeshift reins.

"Is this safe?" Astrid asked, gripping the rope tightly as the Nadder stood up. The dragon laughed at her Viking's misgivings, and Hiccup grinned.

"Safe as anything, Astrid, so long as you trust each other."

"~Come on, Hiccup. Let's_ fly_!~" Toothless exclaimed. They hadn't flown properly together in a week, and he was getting restless. And, he figured, this was a good time to show the girl that Hiccup was his.

Hiccup grinned, climbing onto Toothless's back. "~You got it, Bud.~" Toothless grinned, crouching in preparation to take off.

"Hiccup!" Astrid's eyes were wide. "Where are you going?"

"Don't worry, Astrid. You'll be fine," Hiccup smirked as he told the Nadder to fly.

"Hicc-aah!" Astrid cried as the colourful dragon launched herself upwards.

Toothless followed them into the sky, outpacing the Nadder very quickly.

Astrid clung to the rope, eyes shut tightly and feeling the dragon's powerful wing-beats beneath her. From somewhere behind -no, in front of her now- she could hear Hiccup shouting joyfully.

"Astrid! Open your eyes!" Hiccup yelled as he and Toothless barrel rolled past, Toothless's tongue sticking out.

"You're insane!" Astrid shouted back, opening her eyes anyway. "Oh!"

Hiccup glanced back at her. Astrid appeared awestruck, looking up at the clouds and down at the sea, far below. He grinned. That was what he'd been waiting for. "~Hey, Nadder! Toothless and I have to take care of something. You don't mind if we go, right?~"

"~Not at all!~" The spiked dragon warbled back. This would give her a chance to fly alone with the Viking girl, the way Hiccup flew with Toothless. The Nadder had wanted a person like Hiccup since he freed her from the Vikings. Maybe this girl would be that person.

"~Great. Toothless, let's go!~" Toothless shot upwards into the clouds and was soon lost from sight.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, there it is. I don't think I like the way this chapter turned out, but I'm writing this A/N at 12:19 AM Thursday and I figure it's a bit late to re-write it now. :D **

**I don't hate the way it turned out, I just think I should have done better. And I'm not fishing for excuses either, but the quality might be blamed on my dad's new girlfriend and her three kids- Dad gave my sister and I about five minutes warning before they _got_ here, and they're certainly making themselves at home. So from three people in this house it's gone to seven, plus a Chihuahua puppy that's been scaring _my_ dog. (That said, Frankie used to be scared of my _cat_.)**

**As always, I love talking to all of you, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter more than I did.**


	8. The Lad's Fallen Off

"I'm bored," Tuffnut complained.

"We know," Snotlout scowled, crossing his arms. "When is Hiccup bringing Astrid back, anyway?"

"How would_ I_ know?" Tuffnut asked. "Hey, do you think she'll be alive?"

"Yeah, what if the Night Fury kills her?" Ruffnut added enthusiastically.

Fishlegs frowned. "I don't think Hiccup would let it kill..."

"What, and _Hiccup_ can stop it?" Snotlout scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"I think he could do it," Gobber shrugged. "Th' lad's grown, yeh know. An' a weakling couldn't a' survived three years out here by 'imself, dragons or no dragons."

Snotlout was quiet for a long moment, then he sighed, "I think he's changed."

"What?" Tuffnut asked.

"Hiccup. He's not the same." Snotlout said, frowning to himself. "He never stood up to us before, Tuff."

"You're right," Fishlegs said quietly. "He never talked that much, either."

"And he looks totally hot now," Ruffnut said dreamily, leaning against her brother.

Tuffnut shoved her away. "Gross. He didn't ride dragons before, either. I mean, he'd rather hide in the forge than face a dragon, but now he's, like, riding them."

"Tha's not true at all!" Gobber exclaimed, chuckling. "Hiccup was always tryin' t' get out o' th' forge an' fight. An' yeh know he nearly talked my ears off more'n once. Odin's beard, that boy can talk!"

"He was?" Snotlout asked. "I mean, if he wanted to fight, why didn't he?"

"'Is dad wouldn't let 'im," Gobber explained. "Stoick always felt that Hiccup couldn't take care o' himself, and he never gave him th' chance to try." Snotlout opened his mouth, but Gobber waved him off. "Sure, Hiccup was tiny, but so's Astrid, and yeh never saw _her_ failin' in anything."

"Why didn't Hiccup ever talk to me?" Fishlegs asked. "We were friends, right?"

"I imagine it was 'cause yeh never let 'im," Gobber said, frowning slightly. "None o' th' village did, now that I think of it."

Fishlegs opened his mouth, then looked up as he heard Toothless's signature shriek.

The others looked up as well, and after a moment Gobber gasped. "_Hiccup_!"

"What? What is it?" Tuffnut demanded, squinting up at the tiny dot that was the Night Fury.

"The lad's fallen off!" Gobber exclaimed, staring up at a second, smaller dot.

"He's _what_?!" Snotlout shouted, watching as the two drew closer to the ground. "Gods, he_ has_, too!"

"Whoa," Ruffnut breathed admiringly. "He's cool again, Tuff."

"What's that mean?" Tuffnut asked, glancing at her.

"Well, duh. Falling that far, and he's going to survive, too."

"He _is_?!" Fishlegs exclaimed, everyone staring at Ruffnut now. "Ruff, are you okay?"

"I'm _fine_! Hiccup's got a dragon to catch him, hasn't he?" Ruffnut raised an eyebrow.

"Oh." Fishlegs considered that. "I guess you're right." He looked up again and gasped at how close the dragon and his rider had gotten.

A second later, Hiccup strapped himself back into the saddle. Just a moment after that, Toothless landed smoothly in the grotto just in front of the Vikings.

Hiccup pulled his helmet off and looked at the Vikings calmly, as if he fell from the sky every day, which he did.

"Where's Astrid?" Snotlout demanded upon noticing that the blonde Viking girl wasn't with Hiccup anymore.

"I left her with a friend," Hiccup said, smiling to himself. "Ruffnut, Tuffnut, I'll take you next."

"What? A_ friend_? You don't mean..." Ruffnut trailed off. "Are you taking us to the same place..?"

"Yes and yes," Hiccup answered both of Ruffnut's questions. "Don't worry, Astrid's fine. They won't hurt her."

"Do you expect_ us_ to get on that _Night Fury_ with _you_?" Tuffnut stared at Hiccup. "'Cause if you do, I've got_ one_ thing to say!"

"What is it, Tuff?" Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"_Awesome_!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "I always wanted to ride a dragon."

Ruffnut shoved him aside. "Come on. I wanna get this over with."

"~You don't have a grudge against these two, right Toothless?~" Hiccup asked cautiously, putting his helmet back on as the twins climbed onto Toothless's back.

"~I haven't seen them apologise. Have you?~" Toothless replied, unconcerned.

"~Please don't go crazy this time, Bud. I don't think I'll survive being squeezed that hard by the twins.~" Hiccup mumbled.

Toothless shrugged, launching himself into the air. "~Sure, Hiccup. I'll just get us there as fast as I can, instead!~"

"~Toothless..!~" Hiccup shouted, as the Night Fury sped through the air. The twins seemed delighted at Toothless's speed, whooping and yelling. Hiccup figured he should have known. Ruffnut and Tuffnut always _had_ been daredevils.

Toothless set down in the grass near the dragons' cavern, and the twins fell off of him looking very windswept. Hiccup was glad for his scaled helmet.

"That was amazing!" Tuffnut declared, lying flat out in the grass, looking up at the sky.

"Yeah," Ruffnut agreed emphatically.

"Uh, you two don't mind if I just go fetch Fishlegs now, do you?" Hiccup asked. He wasn't about to give everyone a private dragon training lesson. No way. Of course Astrid was different. She deserved a private lesson. Of course she did. It

wasn't because Hiccup still had a crush on her... No, not at all. He sighed to himself. Who was he kidding, really? He couldn't even hide his infatuation from Toothless, and the dragon knew almost nothing about human things.

"Go ahead," Tuffnut told him, then glanced over at his sister and burst out laughing at the state of her hair, just as she did the same.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "~Come on, Bud.~"

"~Are they always like that?~" Toothless wanted to know as he took off.

Toothless didn't even bother landing when they reached the grotto, but instead swooped down and grabbed Fishlegs by the shoulders. "Put me down, put me down!" Fishlegs shrieked as he gained height again.

"Sorry, Fish!" Hiccup called back. "Toothless's not a ferry boat, and he's getting tired of acting like one!" He chose to ignore the sudden mental image of a flying boat with black scales.

Fishlegs was soon delivered to the hillside where the twins had been left. Unfortunately, they were nowhere to be found.

"~Damn,~" Hiccup muttered, pulling off his helmet. "~Toothless, can you get, uh, Snotlout, while I try to find the twins?"

Toothless nodded, thinking that he'd much rather deal with Hiccup's obnoxious cousin than the twins, who, from Toothless's limited experience, seemed somewhat insane. "~I won't bring the older one, Hiccup.~" He warned. "~Too untrusting of dragons.~"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "~Fine. Go, Toothless. I gotta find the twins before they blow something up.~"

Toothless nodded again and unfurled his wings. Hiccup watched him fly off, then turned to Fishlegs, who'd just gotten to his feet. "Come on, Fish. I left the twins here just a few minutes ago. Who knows where they've gone..."

Fishlegs nodded. "Um, I'll go this way, and you can go that way?" He suggested nervously.

Hiccup shook his head. "No, we'll stay together. That way, you won't have the chance to kill anything."

"I don't_ like_ killing!" Fishlegs protested, seeming relieved at not being left on his own.

"Shh," Hiccup said, walking toward the ex-training dragons' home. "~Um, hey everyone? I'm back... Is there any chance you might have seen a couple of Viking twins..?~"

"~Oh, yes!" The Gronkle shuffled out of the shadowy cave, eying Fishlegs curiously. "~The Zippleback came outside to calm them down... They were making an awful racket, you know.~"

"~Oh, yes. Um, sorry about that.~" Hiccup mumbled. "~Do you know which way they...~" He trailed off as the twins voices drifted toward him from the other side of the hill. "Oh gods," He mumbled, as he distinctly heard _'Zippleback gas...Explosions will be so... Flammable, too.'_

Fishlegs heard it too. "Hiccup..." He breathed. "_Tell me_ they haven't found a Zippleback. Please!"

Hiccup stared at him for a moment, then shrugged. "Sorry, Fish. The Gronkle was just telling me that the Zippleback went to stop an argument between the twins, and..."

"Oh, no." Fishlegs mumbled. "Berk is _ruined_."

Hiccup ignored this. "By the way, Fishlegs. Do you remember the Gronkle you trained against?"

"Yeah, it almost killed me. Why?" Fishlegs asked, puzzled.

"This is her," Hiccup introduced.

"~I remember this one,~" The portly dragon rumbled. "~He was so shy.~"

"Oh. _Great,_ ah... Um, I didn't mean to try to kill you!?" Fishlegs was clearly out of his depth here, but he was doing alright, all things considered. Hiccup decided to stand back and translate for now.

"~What? You think I'm upset over that? No, _no,_ Fishy-Viking.~" Hiccup stifled a laugh at the dragon's bname for Fishlegs. "~I forgive you, anyway. It was so long ago!~"

"She forgives you," Hiccup told Fishlegs, not bothering to hide his smirk. "Fishy-Viking."

"Huh?" Fishlegs looked confused.

"That's what she's calling you," Hiccup explained.

"Oh." Fishlegs looked surprised now. "Well... If she's got something to call me, I should have something to call her, right?"

Hiccup shrugged. "If you want to, Fish."

"Meatlug," Fishlegs decided, without hesitation. "Do you, um... I mean, would she...?"

"I think she'd love for you to pet her. Try scratching behind her ears." Hiccup replied, accurately guessing Fishlegs's question. "~You got all of that, right?~" Hiccup asked the newly dubbed Meatlug. Not _all_ dragons understood Norse, after all.

"~Most of it,~" Meatlug replied happily. "~Enough to understand, anyway.~"

"~Great,~" Hiccup said. "~I've got to go make sure the twins haven't killed anyone, or been killed, or persuaded someone else to... Nevermind. I better go see the twins.~"

He turned and left, scrambling over the crest of the hill before Fishlegs could ask him to stay.

The twins had the Zippleback's full attention as they wrestled in the grass.

"~Odd, aren't they?~ / ~Well, you know. They_ are_ Vikings.~ / ~I _know_ that, and_ you_ know I don't mean it that way! / ~Yes, I know.~" Hiccup could never follow Zippleback conversations, especially when they were conversing with themself. Or was it each other? Or maybe themselves? Himself? Hiccup had no idea.

"~Are they bothering you?~" He asked as he came down the hill toward them- him- the dragon.

"~No, no. They are just strange.~ / ~Yes, they are like us and not like us.~"

"~Like you and not like-? Oh, you mean because they're twins. Yeah, they can be a bit much...~" Hiccup ran a hand through his hair as he tried to make sense of the Zippleback's words.

"~I like them. Especially the girl.~ / ~No, you are wrong. The boy is better!~"

The twins looked up from their wrestling match as the one of the heads sparked threateningly. "Hey, what's going on?!" Cried Ruffnut.

"Yeah, why are you fighting?" Tuffnut asked, frowning at the dragon.

"Arguing over which one of you is better, I think." Hiccup said.

"Well, duh." Tuffnut rolled his eyes at the head that had been sparking. "I'm better, obviously."

"No, I am!" Ruffnut objected, pouncing on her brother.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. This was normal for the twins. The Zippleback didn't see it that way, though, and each grabbed a twin by the back of their tunics. "~Why don't you each keep a twin?~" He suggested. The. twins wouldn't mind having a dragon, he was sure. All the better for demolition and chaos, after all. To the twins, he added, "Ruffnut gets the right head, Tuffnut gets the left. No arguing."

The twins stared at him for a moment, then went back to fighting, struggling to throw punches at each other despite hanging in midair from their new dragon's mouths. Hiccup sighed. There was only so much he could do.

He shrugged and headed back in the direction of Toothless's landing spot. The dragon was probably back now with Snotlout, and maybe if Hiccup was lucky, he could convince his scaly friend to find out where Astrid and the Nadder had flown off to.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Here's me hoping this chapter soesn't seem too rushed, considering I wrote most of it on Wednesday, and I'm actually writing this A/N just after midnight now, having just finished the chapter. I hope you like it, and I'm looking forward to your feedback!**

**My reasons for writing most of this yesterday? I've been procrastinating. Also known as watching Hogan's Heroes and M*A*S*H, as well as reading. Lots of reading. Also, holding the Tiny Puppy and going outside to throw a tennis ball for him to fetch... (It's the size of his head, but he manages anyway. :D)**


	9. You Dropped Him in the Ocean!

Sure enough, when Hiccup reached the point where Toothless usually landed on their visits to the ex-training dragons, he found Toothless looking thorougly annoyed at Snotlout, and Snotlout looking more than irritated in response.

"~Hiccup! Your cousin's whining, how do you make him stop?~" The dragon complained, as soon as he spotted Hiccup.

Hiccup sighed. "~Toothless... _Why_ is he soaking wet?~"

"~Well, um...~" Toothless shifted, trying to appear innocent and come up with a good excuse.

"~Nevermind,~" Hiccup put up a hand to prevent him from saying anything. "~I don't want to hear it. Just- _Don't_ do it again, Bud.~"

"He dropped me!" Snotlout accused, shooting a glare at Toothless.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "I can see _that_, Snotlout."

"Aren't you going to_ do_ something about it?" Snotlout asked, trying to balance on one foot as he squeezed water out of his boot.

Hiccup shrugged. "What can I do? If you hadn't noticed, Toothless's a Night Fury. He sort of does whatever he wants, you know."

Toothless nodded, staring imperiously at Hiccup's cousin. Snotlout shoved his boot back on, saying, "Yeah, but you're his friend, right?"

"Yes," Hiccup agreed. "I'm his friend. And before you ask, I already told him to stop, and I already told you why he won't. He wants you to apologize for everything."

"Fine!" Snotlout snapped. "I'm sorry!"

Hiccup looked over at Toothless, raising his eyebrows. The dragon shrugged, grumbling, "~Oh, fine. I was getting tired of him anyway.~"

Hiccup grinned. "He'll stop," He told Snotlout. "Come on, I want to introduce you to someone."

"Who?" Snotlout asked, looking around. "Wait, where's everyone else?"

"Well, I'm not sure where Astrid is-" Hiccup began.

"Where'd she go?" Snotlout narrowed his eyes.

Hiccup shrugged, but otherwise ignored the interruption. "The twins found the Zippleback over there, I don't think they've gone anywhere since-" He gestured vaguely toward the hills. "-And Fishlegs is probably still where I left him, petting Meatlug."

"Meatlug?" Snotlout repeated in a questioning tone. "And- A _Zippleback_!? Hiccup, what-?" He looked around again. "Where did Astrid go, anyway?"

"Meatlug is a Gronkle," Hiccup explained patiently. "Astrid is somewhere up there..." He pointed up at the clouds. "And like I said, the twins found the Zippleback... Or at least, the Zippleback found the twins, and, well-" As if to punctuate his statement, a small explosion went off a short distance away, followed by raucious cheering.

"Up there?" Snotlout went pale. "What did you_ do_ with her?"

"I introduced her to a friend of mine," Hiccup smiled. "A Nadder. They went for a flight."

"They went for a-" Snotlout stopped and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "Astrid went for a flight on a dragon and- The twins found a Zippleback?!"

Hiccup shrugged. "At least it wasn't the Nightmare."

"Odin's ghost, Hiccup." Snotlout muttered. "Do you have any _idea_ what they'll do to the village with a _Zippleback_?!"

Hiccup grinned. "I've got an idea. Come on, I want you to meet someone."

Snotlout followed him warily around the side of the hill to the dragons' cave, where Fishlegs was scratching Meatlug's stomach. "~Oh, yes... Yes, right there, Fishy-Viking...~" The Gronkle was saying.

"What are you doing?" Snotlout asked, staring at the bulky Viking and the equally large dragon.

"Scratching her tummy," Fishlegs replied cheerfully. "What's it look like I'm doing?"

Snotlout just shook his head, mumbling something about Nadders and Zipplebacks.

Hiccup smirked. "Come on, Snotlout. Inside here." He directed his cousin into the shadowy cavern.

"~Another one?~" The Nightmare sounded bored. "~I think this is the fourth you've brought here.~"

"~Fifth, actually.~" Hiccup corrected. "~There were twins for the Zippleback. This is my cousin, Snotlout.~"

"~Hmm,~" The dragon said dismissively. "~I'm not interested in a rider.~"

Hiccup shrugged. "~I didn't ask if you were, did I?~" Snotlout shifted uncomfortably, trying to see the dragon Huiccup must be talking to.

The Nightmare chuckled. "~I suppose not. But that_ is_ what you were thinking.~"

"~Well, it would be nice if you'd think about it,~" Hiccup said. "~But all I really need is for you to show him the truth, that's all.~"

"~The truth?~"

"~Yeah. That dragons aren't like Vikings think they are. If you do that, I promise I'll stop trying to teach you to play chess.~"

(Hiccup and Toothless had traveled a lot in the three years since Hiccup had left... They'd picked up the board game in the far south and brought it back with them. Hiccup had taken it upon himself to teach the other dragons to play.)

The Nightmare snorted. "~I hate that game. Far too much strategy. I'll greet this cousin of yours.~"

Toothless, who'd padded into the cave behind Hiccup and Snotlout, huffed. "~I think it's fun. Even if Hiccup _does_ have to move my pieces for me.~"

Hiccup grinned. "Snotlout, come here." He grabbed Snotlout's hand and towed him toward the waiting Nightmare.

"Whoa, whoa." Snotlout said, pulling away. "What are you doing?"

"Hey, it's okay." Hiccup replied, not answering Snotlout's question. "I promise."

Snotlout allowed Hiccup to guide his hand out until it hit something warm and dry. "What'm I touching?" He asked nervously.

"A Monstrous Nightmare," Hiccup told him calmly.

Snotlout froze. "What?"

"~He is scared,~" The Nightmare observed, blowing out of her nostrils at Snotlout.

"~He's never even _seen_ a dragon that wasn't attacking before,~" Hiccup pointed out. "~Of course he's scared.~"

"~_I_ wasn't attacking.~" Toothless muttered.

"~You dropped him in the ocean!~"

"~I won't hurt him,~" The Nightmare murmured. "~Are all humans this soft?~"

"Hiccup?" Snotlout whispered. "What's it saying?"

"Toothless said he wasn't attacking you earlier, and I said he dropped you in the ocean-" Hiccup paused. "Oh, you mean the Nightmare. Well, she was just pointing out that you're scared, and then-"

"I am not!" Snotlout exclaimed. "I'm a Viking, Vikings don't get scared!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Keep telling yourself that, but you don't have to be afraid now. She isn't going to hurt you."

"How do you know?" Snotlout asked, though he did relax a bit.

"She told me." Hiccup replied dryly.

"Oh," Snotlout muttered. "I, uh, forgot you could understand them."

"Right," Hiccup said. "You always thought they were dumb beasts, didn't you? You and the rest of the tribe, and all the other tribes too!"

Snotlout shrugged. "I... I guess we were wrong."

"Right," Hiccup agreed. "Here, pet her nose again, she likes that..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the short chapter, but I figured you'd rather have it now, this morning, rather than this evening... I might have gotten this done yesterday, but I reached the end of season three in M*A*S*H and then my friend called and talked to me until midnight...**


	10. Spread Your Wings

"Talk about a blind date," Snotlout muttered after a while. "Did you introduce the others to dragons this way, too?"

Hiuccup laughed. "No, just Astrid. The twins found the Zippleback on their own and Meatlug left the cave before Fishlegs and I reached it."

"Oh," Snotlout said. "Where's Gobber?"

"Still where we left him... He's probably inspecting my forge by now."

"You aren't going to make your dragon bring him here?"

"Why should I? He's spent too long fighting them, he won't trust that easily." Hiccup told him.

After a few minutes in which Hiccup chatted to both Hookfang and Snotlout, Hiccup excused himself to convince Toothless to go find Astrid and the Nadder. He wanted them to come back so he could talk to all the Vikings at once, rather than wasting time speaking to each of them alone.

Hiccup waited until they were outside and away from the others before speaking. "~Come on, Toothless. Please? You know it won't take long to find them...~"

"~I don't like that Viking girl,~" Toothless replied adamantly.

"~She _apologized_!~" Hiccup exclaimed. "~Gods, Toothless! She was the first to apologize, and the _only_ one who wasn't scared into it! What _else_ do you want?~"

Toothless huffed, then muttered, "~It would be nice if she stayed away.~"

"~Why?~" Hiccup asked emphatically. "~_Why_ don't you like her?~"

"~You_ like_ her,~" Toothless mumbled accusingly.

"~I- What?! Is that why you hate her so much? Because I _like_ her?~" Hiccup stared at the black dragon.

"~You're going to go away with her, back to that village... Aren't you?~" Toothless narrowed his eyes.

"~_Never_!~" Hiccup exclaimed, surprised. "~Toothless, I hated it there! You know that, Bud. I will _never_ set foot in Berk again, and that's a promise.~"

"~But you want her to be your mate,~" Toothless stated flatly.

"~I, well, um..._ I_- Oh, shut up!~" Hiccup fumbled, going bright red. "I- I- She's _not_ my mate!"

"~That's a yes.~" Toothless told him.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "~Even if it _was_ a yes, it- She, er,_ we_ wouldn't work out.~"

"~Why not?~" Toothless wanted to know.

"~Well I- She's- It's just...~" Hiccup broke off and sighed. "~She's a _Viking_. The _best_ Viking our age, Toothless. I'm- Well, I'm_ me._~"

"~So?~" Toothless growled, angry that his Hiccup still felt this way about himself. "~You're _more_ than good enough for her! _She's_ not good enough for _you_!~"

Hiccup shrugged. "~Toothless, leave it. Please? It's just not going to work, okay?~"

Toothless huffed, flexing his wings. "~I'll make_ sure_ it does!~" With that, he leapt into the air, speeding off in search of Astrid and the Nadder.

Hiccup watched him go. "~Useless reptile...~"

Then he turned and walked back toward the dragons' cave. "Hey, Fish!" He said when he reached the bulky Viking, who was sitting beside Meatlug and telling her all about his childhood.

"Yeah, Hiccup?"

"You're going to learn to fly. Meeting over there, okay?" Hiccup gestured vaguely behind him, at the grassy slope the dragons liked to take off from.

"Okay..." Fishlegs said, sounding a lot more nervous now.

Hiccup nodded. "It'll be fine, Fishlegs. I've gotta go round up the twins. See you there in a few minutes." Fishlegs nodded, and Hiccup continued on toward the small explosions and yelling that marked the twins' location.

The twins had evidently impressed the Zippleback with their loudness and scynchronicity, and the four_ -three?-_ were tangled together in a mess of legs, arms, long necks, hair, and tails.

"Barf, do it again!" Ruffnut was saying, grinning madly.

"No, his name's Belch!" Tuffnut corrected. "Do it again, Belch!"

The dragon, clearly enjoying himself, let out a burst of gas and lit it. The twins cheered, and Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Hey, um... Listen, uh... Ruffnut, Tuffnut!" The twins didn't spare Hiccup a glance, but he knew how to handle them. "I bet you two would never be crazy enough to learn to ride a dragon!"

Ruffnut and Tuffnut turned to stare at him. "What?" They asked in unison.

"Ride a dragon?" Ruffnut added, eyes wide.

"Awesome! Where do I sign up?" Tuffnut asked.

Hiccup grinned. "Just meet me at the landing field in five minutes." He turned to walk away, then paused. "Why don't you just call the right head Barf and the left Belch?"

The twins looked at each other, then at their two-headed dragon.

"I _never_ would have thought of that!" Tuffnut grinned.

"Dumbass," Ruffnut said.

"Hey! Take that back!" Tuffnut yelled. Hiccup rolled his eyes and walked back around the hill to the dragons' cave.

"Snotlout? You still in there with-"

"Yes! His name's Hookfang!" Snotlout informed him from inside.

"Uh... Kay." Hiccup said, not sure how he was going to tell his cousin that his dragon was a female. "Uh, can you two come outside for a minute?"

"Sure! Come on, Hookfang... Come on! What're you waiting for?"

Hiccup smirked as the newly dubbed Hookfang told him that Snotlout was being much nicer before Hiccup got there. "~Why is he being so rude now?~"

"~He thinks he's got to impress everyone by being tough and Vikingly,~" Hiccup explained.

"~Ridiculous human,~" Hookfang snorted as she followed Snotlout into the light.

Hiccup shrugged, then turned to his cousin. "I see you two're getting along nicely. Snotlout, how would you like to ride her?"

Snotlout's eyes went wide. "Ride? Like, in the air?_ Flying_?!"

Hiccup nodded. "Well, yeah. That is how dragon riding works."

"I know that!" Snotlout snapped.

"Everyone else's going to learn," Hiccup told him. "So, are you coming?"

"I- Okay." Snotlout said.

Hiccup led them over to the grassy takeoff hill, where Fishlegs and the twins were waiting with Meatlug and Barf and Belch. Instead of addressing them, Hiccup looked up at the sky.

"Uh, what are you looking for?" Fishlegs asked after a few minutes.

"Toothless. And the Nadder, with Astrid on her back." Hiccup explained. "Oh, there they are."

They all watched as the two dragons came in for a landing. Toothless didn't even wait to furl his wings before bounding excitedly toward Hiccup, pouncing on the dragon rider in his excitement.

"Whoa!" Hiccup cried as he was knocked flat on his back. "What is it, Toothless?! Is something wrong?"

"~Dragon rider, Hiccup! A dragon- There's a four-winged... I think you'd call him a Stormcutter... Huge dragon, and there's a_ person_!~"

"~Calm down, Toothless!~" Hiccup exclaimed, laughing. "~What is it?~"

"~Hiccup,~" Toothless said, looking into Hiccup's eyes. "~I saw a _person_ riding that four-winged dragon.~"

"You saw_ what_?!" Hiccup yelled, forgetting about Dragonese. "A person? Who, where? Gods, this is_ amazing_!"

Toothless got off of Hiccup and bounded around in a circle, almost as excited as his rider. "~I was going to find your Astrid and I saw this huge dragon in the distance, he's _so_ much bigger than me, and there was a_ person_, with a mask and horns and a strange staff, but they disappeared in the clouds -I don't think they saw me- and I found Astrid and the Nadder flying out of a storm cloud- Can you believe it? So I told the Nadder to come back, and I came back too!~"

"~That's wonderful Toothless, -Astrid's not mine, by the way, and you _know_ it- Gods, another dragon rider!~"

"What's going on?" Astrid asked, sliding off of her Nadder. Hiccup noticed that she was soaked again, but he was too excited to care why.

Hiccup got to his feet, grinning madly. "Toothless saw a dragon -A Stormcutter- with a rider! I'm not the only one! Gods, I can't wait to find them and meet them, wow... This is just..."

"Oh," Astrid said, surprised. She watched as Hiccup and Toothless celebrated, leaping around and playing together. She'd never seen Hiccup so happy before. She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, thinking of the flight the Nadder -Stormfly- had taken her on. She'd never felt so free before... Was that how Hiccup felt?

"Hey," Snotlout strutted over to her. "This's Hookfang." He gestured at the Nightmare behind him. "Wanna go for a ride?"

Astrid rolled her eyes. Would he _never_ give up? "No thanks. Stormfly's already taken me through a storm cloud today, I don't need to be lit on fire or anything as well."

"Hey, watch this!" Ruffnut called. "Barf, gas Tuffnut!"

"Wait, Ruff-" Tuffnut started, then groaned as Barf breathed gas all over him. "Belch, don't-" Belch lit the gas, and Tuff staggered out of the explosion, slightly blackened and grinning. "Do it again!"

Fishlegs stared at him for a minute, then shook his head. "This is Meatlug," He introduced his Gronkle to Astrid and the twins.

"Meatlug?" Astrid raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"It fits her, okay?" Fishlegs said defensively, shrugging.

Stormfly nudged Astrid's back, and she turned to scratch the dragon's nose. "This is Stormfly," She said to the others.

"Barf and Belch," Ruffnut said, pointing at the two-headed dragon.

"I was gonna say that," Tuffnut whined.

The Vikings turned their attention back to Hiccup as he stood up, brushing himself off. "Um, the first thing about dragon riding, right. Right. Um, Toothless?"

"~Spread your wings,~" Toothless supplied helpfully.

"Right." Hiccup said, still distracted by the news of another dragon rider. "Spread your- _Toothless,_ they're Vikings. They don't _have_ wings!" Toothless gave him an innocent look, which Hiccup rolled his eyes at.

"How about getting on?" Astrid suggested.

"Right!" Hiccup said brightly. "Getting on!" Toothless snickered, and Hiccup sent him a look. "~It's harder than it looks to teach this sort of thing!~" Hiccup defended himself.

"~You're floundering like a hatchling on his first flight,~" Toothless informed him.

Hiccup scowled. "~Then you do it!~"

"~They can't understand Dragonese,~" Toothless said smugly.

"~I'll translate,~" Hiccup countered with a smirk. "Toothless's taking over the class," Hiccup explained to the Vikings. "I'm demoted to translator."

"~You're mean when you feel like it, Hiccup.~" Toothless grumbled. Hiccup grinned and translated that into Norse.

"~Come on, Toothless. How to ride a dragon.~" He prompted.

The Night Fury rolled his eyes. "~Alright. Well, as you said. First you have to get on.~"

"Yes, get on. We already got that, Toothless." Hiccup said.

"~And then... You hold on... And, um...~" Toothless shrugged.

"Okay," Hiccup said. "So, get on and hold on tight."

He slid onto Toothless's back, and Astrid, following his example, climbed back onto Stormfly. Fishlegs tentatively climbed up onto Meatlug's back, holding his breath in case something bad happened.

The others had a bit more trouble getting on, especially the twins, since their dragon only had one back to sit on. "Try sitting up here, Ruff." Hiccup suggested, motioning toward Barf's neck. "And Tuffnut on the other side."

Snotlout got up his courage and slid onto Hookfang's neck.

"~Now spread your wings!~" Toothless said happily.

"Alright, hold on." Hiccup instructed. "Now lean forward, you're going to want to move with your dragons, like-" Toothless took off, and the rest of Hiccup's sentence was lost to the Vikings as their dragons followed him into the sky.


	11. Make Your Choice

"You got it, Astrid!" Hiccup yelled, doing a barrel roll around the girl and her Nadder. "Now try staying low on her back! Less wind resistance means she'll go faster!"

"Okay!" Astrid shouted back, taking his advice. "Stormfly, come on, you can do it!" The colourful dragon went into a corkscrew, with Astrid clinging to her neck in order to avoid falling off.

"Great, Astrid!" Hiccup called back as he and Toothless sped off toward Fishlegs.

Astrid beamed as she and Stormfly came out of the corkscrew. "Good girl, Stormfly!" She said, scratching her dragon's neck. Stormfly soaked up the praise happily, and Astrid wondered how she ever thought she could kill a Nadder. Well, she certainly wouldn't be able to now.

She breathed in the cold, clear air, looking down at the world. Was this why Hiccup had left? No, she knew it wasn't why. He'd left because he was tired of being looked down on, and because he wanted to protect his friend. She understood that now. She'd been thinking ever since she'd first touched Stormfly's warm scales in the darkness of that cave. How could she go back to Berk now, when she knew the truth about dragons?

A life on Berk couldn't compete with this ultimate freedom. Astrid was a shield maiden, but she knew her parents were thinking of arranging a marriage for her. She was certainly old enough. Past old enough to marry. Astrid didn't want a husband. She didn't want to be a housewife. "Stormfly, up!" She cheered as the dragon climbed through the air.

Astrid closed her eyes for a moment, revelling in the freedom and exhilaration of flight. She opened them wide a moment later with an idea. Hiccup had run away. Why couldn't she?

She looked over at the Night Fury's rider, who was lecturing Snotlout on turning_ with_ his dragon instead of against her. Hiccup had lived mostly alone for three years, with just dragons for company. She could too.

But... She couldn't. Astrid had her parents to worry about. The village. She was the best Viking her age, how could she ignore her duty to her tribe? Well, Hiccup had had responsibilities in the village too. He was the son of a chief, for the Gods' sakes.

Astrid closed her eyes for a moment, trying to choose between her home on Berk and the freedom of flying with Stormfly. When she opened them, Toothless was flying just above Stormfly and Hiccup was looking down at her, concerned.

"Astrid? Is everything alright?"

Astrid hesitated, then nodded. "I- Yeah. Everything's fine."

Hiccup gave her a sympathetic look, as if he understood perfectly what he was putting her through. He probably did. "How about I teach you and Stormfly some non-verbal requests, like up, down, left, right..?"

Astrid smiled. "Sure."

Hiccup nodded, then made a crooning-clicking sound at Stormfly, who whistled in reply. Toothless contributed to the conversation with an eye roll and a huffing noise. "Alright. Tap her neck with one finger for up, two for down. Three for right, and four for left. Got it?"

Astrid nodded. "I think so."

"Alright. If you want anything... Just ask, okay?" Hiccup waited for her to nod, then he and Toothless turned and swooped down toward the twins, who were having trouble directing their Zippleback.

After a moment, Astrid shifted. "How about we try those signals, girl?" Stormfly squawked something that sounded like an affirmative, so Astrid grinned and tapped her neck with two fingers. Stormfly responded immediately, diving down toward the ocean.

Astrid whooped in joy, tapping her neck again with one finger to bring Stormfly back upwards. They leveled off just below the clouds and glided for a while. "Stormfly, what am I gonna do?" The colourful dragon made a questioning sound, so Astrid elaborated. "I'm a Viking, Stormfly... I live on Berk. And as long as dragons are attacking my home, it's my duty to fight them. But how can I do that, knowing the truth about dragons?"

Stormfly whistled, and Astrid took it as encouragement. "A part of me doesn't even want to go back home, girl. It wants me to stay here with you. But another part is telling me I need to go back, to do my duty to my tribe."

Stormfly twisted her head so she could see Astrid, then made a series of clicking, crooning sounds. Astrid shrugged helplessly. "I don't understand, girl. I'm sorry. Maybe... Maybe I can tell the Chief of Berk the truth about dragons. He's got to listen to me!"

"He won't," Hiccup's regretful voice came from above her. Astrid twisted around, surprised.

"Hiccup! How long were you listening?"

The dragon rider shrugged. "I didn't really have to. I know what you're thinking, and it won't work."

"Why not?" Astrid demanded. "You convinced _me_, didn't you?"

"I- Wait a minute. We'll talk on the ground, Astrid. Stormfly, take her down." The Nadder bobbed her head, flapping back down to earth.

"Hey, wait!" Astrid cried. "Stormfly, wait up. Hiccup!" She was ignored by both her dragon and the scale-covered rider.

Astrid slid off of Stormfly's back as she landed, watching as the others followed.

"What's going on?" Snotlout asked as Hookfang folded her wings. Astrid only shrugged.

Toothless was the last to touch ground. Almost before his claws touched dirt and grass, Hiccup was off his back and walking toward Astrid. "It won't work," He said loudly.

"Why not?" Astrid asked. "Tell me, Hiccup. Why won't it work?"

"Because my dad- No, not _my dad_. Stoick is a stubborn fool who can't stand being wrong, Astrid, and he'll never listen to you or _anyone_ if it means he's wrong." Hiccup started pacing agitatedly as Astrid watched silently. "When I was younger I used to think, maybe he'll listen _next time_. If I could only _show_ him- Maybe he'd see... But he _never did_!"

"Hiccup..."

"No! I spent years trying to make that man listen to me, with all those failed inventions, all that time trying to be a_ Viking_. He won't listen, Astrid." Hiccup stopped pacing and stared at her.

"What are they talking about?" Tuffnut whispered loudly.

"Shhh, idiot," Ruffnut muttered. "They're talking about Stoick the Vast."

"What about him?" Tuffnut wondered.

"I think Astrid wants to talk to him about our dragons," Fishlegs told him quietly. "Hiccup doesn't want her to."

"I'm on Astrid's side," Snotlout smiled.

Astrid shook her head, trying to ignore the others. "Hiccup, I can't just let them..."

"You have to!" Hiccup shouted.

Astrid took a deep breath. "No. I can't go back there and fight, knowing I'm killing innocent creatures, and I can't stay here and let down my tribe!" She threw up her hands. "You don't understand!"

Hiccup reached up and pulled off his helmet, throwing it on the ground angrily as he glared her. "Damn it, Astrid! It was _my_ tribe too, you know! He's my _father_! Don't you _dare_ say I don't understand, because I was the _Heir_ and I understand a whole lot more than I wish I did!"

Astrid took a step back, subdued. Then she narrowed her eyes and glared back at him. "You ran away, Hiccup. You could have tried, but you didn't. You left and let us all think you were dead!"

"Yeah, so?!" Hiccup ran his hands through his hair. "I did try. I tried for fifteen years and I failed. If I couldn't make him see that I was just as useful as anyone else, how do you think I was supposed to make him see that his sworn enemies are innocent?!"

"Then why didn't you tell anyone else?!" Astrid challenged.

"Who was I supposed to tell?" Hiccup retorted. "_You?_ You wouldn't have listened to me for a second. You would've killed Toothless and turned me in!"

Astrid was quiet for a moment. Hiccup was right. She would have turned him in, and been proud of it, too. "Well... Now it's different. All of us know the truth, we can all talk to him!"

Hiccup turned away. "It's not like that, Astrid. Dad fights them because they killed my mother. For him, it's personal! Nothing will change his mind, Astrid."

"He fights them because they killed you, too!" Astrid pointed out. Hiccup looked down.

"I have to let him think that, Astrid. If he knew I was alive, he'd do anything to get me back there."

"Because he cares about you," Astrid said.

"Yeah, well." Hiccup shrugged. "He wouldn't care so much if he knew my best friend was a dragon. Look, just drop it, okay, Astrid?"

"How?"

"What do you mean, _'how?'_" Hiccup frowned.

"I have to choose between Stormfly and my tribe. How can I do that, Hiccup?"

"I don't know. It's hard. I had to choose, too." Hiccup turned away and chirped at Toothless. "It was just easier for me, since I was never really accepted there."

He walked away, leaving Astrid to make her choice. The other teens hung around for a few moments, then dispersed as well.

Astrid sighed and sat down in the grass to think.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I hope you enjoyed my special birthday chapter for you guys! Sorry it isn't longer, but I spent all last week watching seasons ten and eleven of M*A*S*H and I have now seen every episode! That's over a hundred hours, so maybe I'm a little insane for watching it all in as little time as possible...**


	12. Gobber's Got to be Worried

Hiccup, followed by Toothless, made his way along the cliffs until he'd gotten out of the others' line of sight, then stopped and sat down cross-legged in the dirt.

"~Did I do the right thing, Bud?~" He asked. The dragon sat down beside him and tilted his head, unsure what Hiccup meant.

"~What else could you have done?~"

Hiccup shrugged. "~I don't know. Something. _Anything_. I should've tried to convince my dad...~"

"~No!~" Toothless exclaimed. "~You could have gotten yourself killed doing that, and_ me_ with you!~"

"~He thinks I'm _dead_, Toothless.~"

"~I know. Maybe that's best.~" Toothless replied, sweeping his tail around in front of him thoughtfully.

"~Yeah. Maybe.~" Hiccup didn't sound convinced, but he dropped the issue. "~Let's go check on Gobber. He's got to be worried by now.~"

Toothless snorted, shaking out his wings. "~He'd better be, he was left alone over an hour ago.~"

Hiccup grinned, hoisting himself into Toothless's saddle.

"~Well, he'll have company soon. I intend to make some saddles.~" The two took off, gliding over the island.

"~What for?~" Toothless asked curiously. "~They're all going to go back to their Viking nest.~"

Hiccup smiled. "~No, they're not. At least, not_ all_ of them.~"

Toothless peered back at him. "~You seem awfully sure about that,~" He observed.

"~They've_ flown_, Bud.~" Hiccup explained. "~How can they go back to a, a life stuck in one place like that, when they know how free they could be?~"

Toothless flicked an ear in agreement, then abruptly folded his wings and dove.

Gobber was on his feet and waiting when they landed in the grotto. "What happened? I've been waitin' all day!"

"Sorry," Hiccup apologised, sliding off of Toothless's back. "Things are taking longer than I hoped they would."

"What things? Where are my students?" Gobber asked, frowning.

Hiccup shrugged. "They're fine. They just... Have some thinking to do, that's all."

"Thinkin'," Gobber repeated sceptically. "Yeh're lucky I trust you, yeh know."

Hiccup shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. "Have you seen my forge yet?" Toothless wandered off then in search of some suitable saddle leather.

Gobber nodded, letting his former apprentice change the subject. "Aye."

Hiccup grinned. "Toothless helped me build it. Did you notice how there was no fire?"

"Aye, I couldn't help but wonder 'bout that..."

"Dragon-fire," Hiccup said proudly, stepping inside the building. "If Toothless can't help, I call a

Terror. Their flames are great for heating metal."

Gobber nodded slowly, a little impressed. "Well, I suppose the beasts've got some use, then."

"Toothless's my best friend," Hiccup told him seriously.

"Aye, so yeh said before." Gobber was almost afraid to ask, but he had to know. "How... How did yeh meet 'im?"

Hiccup's face fell. "I told you, I shot him down in a raid."

"I jus' don't believe it. If yeh stot 'im down, wouldn't you have told someone?"

Hiccup glowered at him. "I _did_. I told _everyone_. Remember?" Hiccup pulled a face and mimicked his own fourteen-year-old voice. "_'It's not like the last few times, dad. I really actually hit it. You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot. It went down just off Raven Point...'_ and then there was, _'I really did hit one'_, to which _you_ replied, _'_Sure_, Hiccup.'_"

Gobber swallowed."Was tha' th' raid when yeh burned all th' ships in th' harbor?"

Hiccup frowned. "First, that wasn't me. It was a Nightmare. And second, it wasn't_ all_ the ships..."

"Aye, I remember." Gobber admitted. "So that's why yeh started skippin' work in the afternoons."

Hiccup fidgeted a bit, then shrugged. "Well, I cut him loose, and he almost killed me, but then he fell into a cove trying to fly... He would've died in there if I didn't feed him... And then I heard that he was gonna die anyway, since he'd lost his tailfin, and I couldn't let that happen. So I built him a new one."

"Jus' like that," Gobber said.

"Just like that." Hiccup repeated, nodding. "Sort of."

Gobber raised an eyebrow. There was a story there for sure. "What's this 'sort of', eh?"

Hiccup scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well... The first time I rode a dragon, it wasn't, well... I was sort of maybe clinging to his tail."

Gobber stared at him as Toothless entered the forge, with saddle leather, which he deposited on the stone counter before curling up in a corner. "His tail?"

"I was trying to see if the prosthetic was the right size," Hiccup said defensively, absent-mindedly making preparations to cut the leather. "And Toothless decided to take off when I was sitting on his tail!"

Toothless grumbled indignantly, and Hiccup rolled his eyes at him. "It was not!" Toothless gave him a 'go on,' look, and Hiccup faltered a bit. "You were moving your tail! I _had_ to sit on it!"

"What's goin' on?" Gobber asked, curious.

"Toothless says it's _my_ fault he took off with me on his tail," Hiccup complained. Toothless made another noise, an amused grunt, and Hiccup turned around and declared, "I didn't _know_ you were gonna fly off like that!"

"Oh," Gobber muttered. "So, uh... How did yeh learn to fly 'im?"

Hiccup narrowed his eyes slightly. "You're not asking so you can trap Night Furies, are you?" Gobber shook his head, and Hiccup relaxed, turning back to his leather work. "Good. I think Toothless is the last of his kind, since we've never seen another."

"So tha's why th' Night Furies stopped comin'," Gobber muttered.

"Yeah," Hiccup said, a little sadly. "So, uh... Question. Right. Uh... Wasn't it about learning to fly?" Gobber nodded.

Hiccup grinned crookedly, cutting a shape from the leather. "Lots and lots of trying and failing. But then we nearly died a couple of times, and-"

"What?!" Gobber exclaimed, interrupting what he was sure would be an interesting and in-depth explanation of just how Hiccup had almost died that time. Or at least, it would be now.

"Um, yeah... I got un-clipped from the saddle somehow, and, uh... Fell off." Toothless snorted, rolling his eyes. Hiccup whirled around to face him. "It was_ not_ my fault! _You're_ the one that stopped in midair!" Toothless huffed indignantly. "Well, okay, maybe that one _was_ my fault, but I..."

Gobber sighed, wondering if his former apprentice would ever change. "Yeh fell off?" He prompted.

"Oh, yeah." Hiccup said, blinking. "And then Toothless fell, too, and it took me a while to reach him, so by the time he spread his wings we were just above the treetops, and headed right into those sea stacks, you know, the ones that ships can't get through..."

Gobber closed his eyes. "Odin's beard, Hiccup. Yeh could have _died_!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Yeah. 'Cause I _never_ realized _that_, Gobber. Anyway, I had to throw away my cheat sheet-"

"Cheat sheet?"

"It had all the tailfin positions on it," Hiccup muttered. "But I threw it away and just... Flew, and we made it."

"Yeh just flew," Gobber repeated.

"It was, yeah... It was like-" Toothless supplied a helpful chirp and Hiccup pounced on it. "Yes! It was like _instinct_. Thanks, Toothless."

"Yeh're tellin' me it's instinct for a Viking boy to_ fly_ a Night Fury," Gobber told him sceptically.

Hiccup frowned. "I'm not a Viking."

"Fine then, a_ human_ boy," Gobber amended.

"Then, yeah, it was instinct." Hiccup said.

"Why were yeh even tryin' to be friends with 'im, though? I mean, it's a Night Fury, not a dog!

"I could have killed him," Hiccup said in a low voice. Toothless huffed, then put his hed down on his paws and closed his eyes.

"What?"

"In the woods," Hiccup looked down at his feet. "He was tied up in the bolas. He couldn't move, or free himself, and I was there with a knife and I didn't."

"Why not?" Gobber asked carefully. "Yeh had the chance. Why didn't yeh take it? Yeh could've been a hero!"

Hiccup shook his head. "I couldn't. No, that's not right. I_ wouldn't_. He was helpless. I... When I looked at him lying there, all I saw was... Myself."

Gobber stared at him, so Hiccup pushed on. "I cut the ropes, and he leapt at me. He pinned me to the ground and stared at me and I was _sure_ I was about to die. And he chose not to kill me." Hiccup paused. "Do you remember what you said two days after the raid, when I mentioned how the Nightmare attacked me, and wondered why it bothered, since I wasn't a threat?"

"Dragons always go for the kill," Gobber said slowly.

Hiccup nodded. "Not all dragons. That was when I went back to find him. I was curious. He could have killed me, and he didn't."

"Why?" Gobber asked, after a moment.

"Huh?"

"Why didn't he?"

Hiccup gave Toothless a small smile. "Because he was curious too. He told me dragons believe a Viking kills first and asks questions later. But I didn't, and he wanted to know why."


	13. Kind of Sudden

Hiccup lifted the finished saddles onto Toothless's back, one at a time, strapping them down behind Toothless's saddle so they wouldn't fall off.

"Yeh're not doin' what I think yeh're doin' with those, are yeh?" Gobber asked, eyeing the harnesses.

Hiccup shrugged. "Well, riding bareback hurts after a while, so I figured they'd appreciate these."

"Riding..." Gobber trailed off, sighing. "Yeh didn't."

"I _did_," Hiccup countered, grinning. "Snotlout met a Nightmare. Named her Hookfang. Fishlegs has a Gronkle called Meatlug."

"Don't tell me the twins..."

"Zippleback." Hiccup cut him off with a smirk. "Barf and Belch. They get along great."

"Alright, so now I know where they are. Where've you taken Astrid? She wouldn't-"

"Astrid calls her Nadder Stormfly. Great name, huh?"

"You're bluffing," Gobber accused, frowning. No way would Astrid ride a..." He trailed off again as a blue and yellow Nadder swooped past, Astrid clearly visible on her back. "Dragon," Gobber finished in a much quieter voice.

Hiccup grinned as Stormfly banked, swooping down into the cove on her second pass. "There you are!" Astrid cried, sliding off of her Nadder.

Hiccup nodded. "Yes... Here I am, uh... Yeah."

Astrid rolled her eyes at his stammering, then noticed the saddles on Toothless's back. "What are those?"

Hiccup grinned. "Saddles for your dragons! You know, riding bareback hurts after a while -you're probably feeling it now- and I thought, since you'll be riding dragons all the time now-"

"Wait," Astrid interrupted. "What do you mean?"

Hiccup looked confused. "Saddles, because riding bareback-"

"No, after that."

"Um... Since you're not going back to Berk-"

"Who says I'm not?!" Astrid demanded.

Hiccup looked surprised. "I- Well, I sort of hoped... I mean, you've_ flown_ now, you know the truth, how- _How_ could you go back_ there_ and stay in one spot for the rest of your_ life_?!"

Astrid stared at him for a moment. "I have a duty to protect my home and my tribe, Hiccup."

Hiccup nodded, looking defeated. "I guess you won't need..."

"I didn't say I wasn't taking Stormfly," Astrid told him. "You hid a dragon in the woods for weeks. Why can't_ I_?"

"No!" Hiccup said loudly. "Do you have any idea how many times I almost got caught?! The _only_ reason I hid Toothless in the woods was because of his tail. He'd crash landed in a cove and couldn't get out."

"You didn't get caught," Astrid pointed out. "And I'm the only one who goes out there anymore."

"Until you decide to try showing Vikings the truth," Hiccup said, shooting down her idea. "Trust me, Astrid. All you'll get out of that situation is a dead dragon and an exile from Berk."

Astrid glared at him. "I have to try!"

"I think it'd work," Gobber spoke up for the first time since Stormfly had landed. He was watching the dragon snooze in the grass with some trepidation.

"~I agree,~" Toothless warbled slowly from his spot hanging from a tree. Hiccup had thought he was asleep, but he'd apparently been listening to the conversation.

"What if it doesn't?" Hiccup argued. "What happens then?"

"I don't know!" Astrid shouted. Then, more quietly, "I don't know. But I have to try, Hiccup."

Hiccup sighed, running his hands through his hair. "I understand, Astrid, but I-" He paused as Toothless let himself slide to the ground.

The dragon bounded over. "~I think we should let her do it.~"

Hiccup gave the blck dragon a sharp look. "~What? Wasn't nearly giving her a heart attack _enough_ for you?~"

"~This isn't like that,~" Toothless insisted. "~I think this is our best chance to end the war.~"

Hiccup stared at him, finally considering Astrid's idea seriously. "~What if something goes wrong?~" He asked eventually.

The dragon hesitated. "~I think... I think we should go back _with_ her. If something goes wrong, we'll be there to save her.~"

Hiccup took a step back. "_No!_" He said, forgetting to use Dragonese. "I won't go back there, Bud. I _promised_ you, and I swore I wouldn't!"

Astrid gasped, catching onto Toothless's idea. "It's perfect! Hiccup, if you come back with us, nothing will go wrong!"

Gobber found his thoughts going back to all of Hiccup's failures and the nickname 'Hiccup the Useless' his former apprentice had had, shifted awkwardly, not wanting to voice his doubts.

Hiccup told him to shut up anyway.

"~Well?~" Toothless asked, eyes open wide.

Hiccup hesitated for a long moment, then nodded. "Okay. I'll-" He was cut off by Astrid as she tackled him in a hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She cried happily. "Stormfly, did you hear that? Hiccup's coming to Berk with us!" Hiccup's arms windmilled as he tried not to put them anywhere they shouldn't be and keep his balance at the same time.

The Nadder crowed happily, and Gobber stared for a moment, having thought Hiccup was the only one the dragons could understand. "She says she's happy we're coming," Hiccup translated as Astrid released him from the awkward hug.

"Come on, Girl," The blonde Viking said to her dragon. "Let's find the others." She climbed onto Stormfly's back and the two took off into the sky.

"So, I hear yeh changed your mind about comin' back," Gobber said after a moment.

"Uh, yeah, I guess." Hiccup muttered. "It was kind of sudden."

"D'yeh think you'd be my apprentice again?" Gobber offered.

Hiccup thought about it. "I'm not going to let them know who I am," He said eventually. "But sure, I'll work for you again."

Gobber rolled his eyes at Hiccup's stubbornness. "How are yeh gonna keep 'em from figurin' out who yeh are?"

Hiccup reached back and pulled his hood over his head, concealing his face in shadows. "I'll wear this and my mask," He said."And, you know, I'm supposed to be _dead_. So, no one will find out, unless you tell them, anyway."

Gobber nodded grudgingly. "I won't tell."

Hiccup smiled.

There was a long, slightly awkward silence.

Toothless looked up at the sky, through the camouflage netting, and whined slightly. "~Let's go flying!~"

"~Alright, Buddy, just give me a minute to- Hey!~" Toothless had gotten impatient and shoved his head between Hiccup's legs and shoveled him onto his back.

Gobber watched, bemused, as Toothless launched himself upwards and out of the grotto.

Toothless didn't level off until they were far above the clouds. "~Alright, Bud, that's enough!~" Hiccup shouted as the air around them thinned out. "~I don't have my mask, remember?~"

"~Right,~" Toothless grumbled. "~You left it on the hill when you were fighting with your mate.~"

Hiccup nearly fell off his dragon. "She's not my mate!"

"~_Sure_ she isn't,~" Toothless smirked. Hiccup opened his mouth to respond, but Toothless flipped upside down and watched as his rider slid off the dragon's scaly back. "~You forgot your safety strap!~" He called helpfully, folding his wings to fall beside Hiccup.

"~Thanks for_ nothing_, Toothless!~" Hiccup yelled at him over the wind in their ears.

Toothless threw out a gummy smile. "~You're welcome!~"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey guys! I have finally got the plot moving again! It's crazy, isn't it? This is the thirteenth chapter, and we're not even a third of the way through the plot yet! This is shaping up to be _way_ longer than Run Away was, and I'm really happy! Even if this takes me 'till December. :D And when this is done, I'll start writing the sequel.**

**I'm really sorry for the short-ish -okay, only a bit less than a hundred words shorter than the next-shortest, but still- (And slightly late) chapter, but... (Here's where I list all my excuses:)**

** school started this week, and it's really exhausting. From now on pretty much the only days I'll have completely free of homework will be Sundays, so I'll be writing most of my chapters then from now on, instead of on Wednesdays. For this chapter, I didn't get to it until this afternoon (It's Thursday evening right now).**

**Also, I've spent the week at my mom's house, and I really do prefer writing on my _own_ computer at dad's... It's easier to write with a familiar keyboard, I guess. This one (Still at mom's) is too sensitive, and it keeps tripping me up.**

**Finally, this is my first (And last, since I'm grade 12) year in public school since grade seven, and it's a lot more tiring than I remember. I wake up at 7 am and by the time I get home around four I'm half-asleep.**

**BUT! Just 'cause I'm listing excuses and stuff does NOT mean I'm quitting. I'll be updating on Thursdays as usual! I just wanted to let you guys know it might be slightly late every now and then. (Um, probably not, like, a whole day late, 'cause I'd feel really bad if it was _that_ late...)**


	14. Chieftain

By the time Hiccup and Toothless had done with their aerial acrobatics, the teens had gathered on the hillside near the dragons' cave.

"What did you decide?" Astrid asked Fishlegs quietly as they watched the Dragon Rider and his Night Fury twist and turn among the clouds.

Fishlegs hesitated for a moment. "I- I'm going back to Berk."

Astrid raised her eyebrows. "Wow. I thought you, of all people, would choose to stay here and learn about dragons. I mean, that's sort of your thing, right?"

Fishlegs looked down. "My parents would kill me if I didn't go back, though. And I can still study dragons in Berk."

Astrid nodded in agreement. "That makes sense, I guess. Ruff, how about you?"

Ruffnut looked up, frowning. "I dunno. Not much to do out here." Astrid's eyes widened at the hidden meaning in her friend's sentence, then grinned. Ruffnut _meant_ there weren't many boys to gawk at out here.

"That's true," She agreed.

Tuffnut nodded, declaring there wasn't _anything_ to blow up on Hiccup's island. Astrid hid a smile, realizing the true conversation had gone over his head.

"I'm staying," Snotlout muttered, before anyone could ask him.

Everyone turned to stare at him, and he shifted uncomfortably. "I don't wanna be chief. It's way too much work, y'know? Uncle Stoick's been trying to teach me, and it's- There's a lot of _choosing_. I don't like it."

Tuffnut blinked, then said, slowly, "If you're not going to be chief, and Hiccup's not gonna be chief... Who is?"

"Uh..." Snotlout's eyes traveled to Astrid.

"Astrid?" Ruffnut exclaimed gleefully. "_Astrid'_s gonna be chief?"

Astrid glared, but otherwise ignored her. "I can't be chief," She informed everyone.

Snotlout gaped at her. "Why not?!"

Astrid bit her lip. "I don't think Berk accepts traitors as chieftains."

"Whoa," Tuffnut said. "What's_ that_ supposed to mean?"

"I'm not leaving Stormfly here," Astrid told them seriously. "I want to change Berk's mind about dragons."

Ruffnut frowned. "Dude, you could get _exiled_ for that."

Astrid nodded. "I know. But I have to try."

"Hold it," Tuffnut said, holding up his hands. "If _Snotlout's_ not chief, and _Hiccup's_ not chief, and _Astrid_'_s_ not chief _either_... Who _is_?!"

Fishlegs shrank back, mumbling, "Not me!"

"Too much work!" Ruffnut added. "I'm out."

Astrid's eyes widened and she burst out in giggles. "Tuffnut?! _Tuffnut's_ going to be chief of Berk?!"

Tuffnut laughed half-heartedly as well. "Um, this is a joke, right?"

"Oh, gods..." Ruffnut mumbled. "Can't we have, like... Democracy or something?"

"That's a Roman thing," Snotlout said, dismissing the idea. "Vikings don't do sissy stuff like that."

"What are you talking about?" Hiccup asked from right behind him.

"Ahh!" Snotlout yelled, turning towards his cousin. "Don't_ do_ that!"

Hiccup sniggered. "Sorry. What were you talking about?"

"Tuffnut's going to be chief of Berk one day," Astrid informed him calmly.

Hiccup stared at her for a moment, then shook his head slowly. "Sorry, I think I heard you wrong."

"No, you didn't," Ruffnut said glumly. "My idiot brother's gonna be chief."

Hiccup blinked. "Uh... Why?"

"I'm staying here," Snotlout told him. "Astrid's going to be a traitor. Fishlegs refused, and Ruffnut's out as well."

"And I ran away," Hiccup realized. His lips twitched as he tried not to laugh. "So... Tuffnut's going to be chief after my- Stoick?"

Tuffnut nodded sadly.

"I can't _wait_ to see my dad's face," Hiccup muttered, then promptly burst out laughing.

The dragons didn't exactly understand the Viking leadership system, but once Hiccup managed to control his laughter he explained that a Viking Chieftain was supposed to be something like a good Queen.

It took them a minute to get why that was so funny.

"Alright," Hiccup said after a while. "So, now that we all know Berk is doomed, who wants to stay here with their dragons?"

"I do," Snotlout spoke up. "I mean, if I don't, my dad'd force me to be chief, and... Chief Tuffnut aside, I don't want to.

"I understand," Hiccup assured him, smirking a little at the 'Chief Tuffnut' part. "Anyone else?"

No one spoke up, and Hiccup looked disappointed. "Well... Alright. So, none of you mind that you're leaving your dragons here? You don't care that you'll have to fight them?"

Astrid cleared her throat, and Hiccup nodded to her. "Astrid aside, I mean. She'll be taking her dragon back with her. But the rest of you-"

"Why can't we?" Ruffnut asked, cutting him off.

"..What?"

"Why can't we take _our_ dragons?" Tuffnut elaborated on his sister's question. There was a chorus of agreement from Fishlegs and the dragons.

"I can't protect _all_ of you if something goes wrong," Hiccup frowned at his feet. Then his eyes widened and he looked up. "I did tell you guys I was coming, right?"

"Uh, no. You kinda made it clear you were never going back there." Snotlout told him.

"Oh, right. Well, uh... Astrid sort of made it obvious that she was taking Stormfly back to Berk, whether I wanted her to or not, and then Toothless agreed with her and suggested that we go as well, to protect her if something goes wrong..."

"And you agreed," Fishlegs finished hesitantly.

"Exactly," Hiccup sighed.

"~Of course,~" Toothless purred. "~You're a sucker for the baby-dragon eyes.~"

Hiccup scoffed. "~Nah. You just had a really,~" He paused. "~_Really_, logical argument.~"

Toothless rolled his eyes. "~Sure...~"

"So, should I come back too, or..." Snotlout trailed off, unsure. He'd expected to stand on the beach with Hiccup, waving when the others left, but there was no way he was staying by himself... Right?

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah. There are a lot of dragons on this island, and I don't want you running into them without some training. Not all of them are as friendly as these guys." He gestured at the former training dragons, who grumbled and bared their teeth good-naturedly.

"Alright," Snotlout said.

"Can I ride Stormfly to Berk or should she follow the boat?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup bit his lip, thinking. "Neither. Toothless and I will lead her to Berk, and then we'll loop around and Toothless can leave me with you guys."

Astrid nodded, but Toothless whined, "~Do I have to? You know I hate flying without you!~"

Hiccup sighed. "~I know, Bud. But I have to ge to Berk by ship or they'll never let me in the village.~"

"~Okay... But I don't like it.~" Toothless told his Rider.

"~I like it as much as you do, Bud,~" Hiccup reassured his dragon, smiling nervously.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey! Chapter fourteen! :D I realized a month or so ago that this was going to be a lot longer than Run Away, and now it's proven. We're not even halfway through the plot yet, and already Leaving is just over three thousand words longer than Run Away! :D**

**As for Chief Tuffnut, well, I blame him for that. He took control of my keyboard. :)**


	15. I'll Jump in the Sea

"Put yer backs ito it!" Gobber yelled.

Snotlout stopped rowing in order to wipe his brow and complain. "Ugh. Why do we _have_ to row? Why can't we just use sails? Or we could ride our dragons!" The others voiced their agreement loudly.

"We're Vikings," Gobber said dryly. "As Stoick likes t' say, it's an occupational hazard." He paused, waiting for Snotlout to start rowing again. When he didn't, Gobber shouted. "Now get rowin'!"

Hiccup and Toothless swooped down to glide beside the boat for a while. "Huh," Hiccup said, smirking. "I forgot how hard rowing was. Really, Gobber, dragon riding is _so_ much easier."

"Ach, off with yeh," Gobber muttered.

"He's right!" Astrid called, bringing Stormfly closer to the boat as well.

Gobber rolled his eyes. "You teens'll never let me hear th' end o' this, will yeh?"

"Imagine how much easier it'd be to light your forge every morning with a Terrible Terror," Hiccup remarked, grinning.

"Or," Astrid countered, "How much easier it would be to fish with a dragon on your side!" As if to prove her point, Toothless abruptly turned, nearly sending Hiccup and himself into the water, and shot a fireball into the water. A second later he scooped up a mouthful of stunned fish which had risen to the surface.

"Hey," Hiccup scolded playfully. "Who's side are you on?"

"~Mine,~" Toothless grumbled, rolling his eyes. "~I'm hungry!~"

Astrid laughed, having gotten the gist of Toothless's response through his expression.

"Why couldn't I bring my dragon?" Snotlout whined.

"Yer dragon is a Monstrous Nightmare an' is much too big and fiery to hide in th' woods," Gobber told him flatly. "_Not_ that I know of_ any_ dragons bein' hidden in th' woods," He mumbled, shooting a look at Hiccup and Astrid.

"What about _ours_?" Tuffnut demanded.

"Yeah!" Ruffnut added. "Barf and Belch aren't as big as Hookfang!"

"Barf an' Belch," Gobber said, "Like makin' things explode as much as you two, I've heard. Believe me when I say someone'd find them."

"Meatlug isn't big or troublesome," Fishlegs said in a small voice. "She's really very nice."

"She's a Gronkle, Fishlegs. Gronkles eat rocks. How many loose rocks d'you think are in th' forest? Nah, Gronkles live near rivers and beaches where there are plenty."

Fishlegs sighed. "I know... But I miss her."

"It was your choice, 'Legs." Hiccup told him. "So long as we're in Berk, you can always change your mind."

"Why do I feel like I'm bein' left out o' some decision?" Gobber asked rhetorically, raising a suspicious eyebrow at Hiccup.

His apprentice grinned sheepishly. "Alright, so there was one thing. I gave them a choice between dragons and Berk."

"Ah," Gobber said after a moment. "I see. So _that's_ why Astrid gets t' bring her dragon an' the others don't." He raised both eyebrows, teasing.

Hiccup flushed, but said nothing. Toothless laughed at him.

"I'm staying with Hiccup," Snotlout informed Gobber quietly. "The others want to stay in Berk, though."

"Oh," Gobber said, surprised.

"I'm gonna be chief one day," Tuffnut told him.

"You're..." Gobber frowned. "What?"

"I'm gonna be chief. You see, Snotlout isn't gonna be 'cause he's staying with Hiccup, Hiccup's not gonna be 'cause he ran away, Astrid won't be 'cause she's a traitor now, Fishlegs said 'not me' and Ruff said it was too much work, so-"

"I get it," Gobber interrupted. "No wonder you're stayin' with Hiccup," He muttered to Snotlout, who snorted.

Hiccup grinned, and Toothless pulled away from the boat, soaring up into the clouds. He was back only a moment later, gesturing to Astrid. "Come on, we're almost there."

Astrid's eyes widened, and she urged Stormfly to follow the dragon rider into the sky.

* * *

><p>Having left Stormfly in the cove where Hiccup had once hidden Toothless, Astrid rode back to the boat with Hiccup. They had to be more careful now, since the fishing boat containing Gobber and the other teens was only an hour or so from Berk, and definitely in sight of it by now. So Toothless flew low, wing-tips nearly touching the waves.<p>

"How are you going to sneak Toothless to Berk?" Astrid asked.

"He'll swim," Hiccup replied, as if it were obvious.

"Oh, okay," Astrid nodded. That sounded fairly sensible.

Toothless grumbled. "~I _hate_ swimming.~"

"~Cheer up, Bud!~" Hiccup told him. "~It's only for a little while, unlike that one time we didn't pull up in time and-~"

"~I remember!~" Toothless cut him off. "~And I _still_ say it was your fault!~"

Hiccup opened his mouth, but Astrid spoke up again before he could say anything. "What's your plan on convincing the village to let you live on the island?"

Hiccup shrugged. "I'll jump in the sea-"

"Hiccup, don't try to be funny," Astrid interrupted.

"I'm not!" Hiccup assured her. "So, I'll jump into the sea, and then you guys can tell the villagers that you found me on an iceberg, ready to die because my ship sunk and I had no food, and there were sharks, and..."

"You're almost as bad with storytelling as Gobber," Astrid decided.

Hiccup gasped, feigning hurt. "Oh, Astrid, you've wounded me so!"

Astrid laughed. "Stabbed you right through the heart, I'm sure."

"Oh, _yeah_." Hiccup agreed, laughing as well.

They were quiet for a moment, and then Astrid said, "Hiccup, are you nervous?"

"About what?" Hiccup asked, knowing perfectly what she meant.

"Coming back to Berk. Seeing your dad. All of it." Astrid gestured vaguely.

Hiccup shrugged. "I, uh, I guess. I mean, they won't know it's me, so they have no reason to hate me."

"Except for the Night Fury you'll be hiding in the woods," Astrid noted.

"Yeah," Hiccup grinned. "But that's not a first, so it's alright. Hey, there's the boat."

Toothless flapped backwards as they reached the side of the fishing boat, and Astrid stood carefully and jumped to the deck.

Hiccup grinned, also standing, but instead of jumping onto the deck, he dove into the sea. "Oh, cold, that's cold!" He shouted as his head broke the surface of the water. Toothless snickered.

"I told you it was stupid," Astrid said, reaching over the side to grab his hand. "You're going to get sick."

"It'll work!" Hiccup exclaimed as she pulled him onboard.

"What'll work?" Gobber asked sceptically, watching Hiccup shiver, dripping onto the deck.

Hiccup grinned. "All you guys have to do is tell them that my ship sunk, and you found me on an iceburg-"

"Brilliant!" Gobber told him. "You're almos' as great a storyteller as I am!"

"Oh, wonderful." Hiccup said sarcastically.

"I see Berk!" Tuffnut shouted, pointing at the still somewhat distant village. "I see it!"

Hiccup's eyes widened, and he scrambled to find his helmet. "~Toothless! Come here, Bud- My helmet's in your saddle bag.~"

Toothless landed on the deck, nearly capsizing the little fishing boat. "Hey, watch it!" Snotlout snapped, barely managing to avoid tumbling overboard. He went to stand on the other side of the ship, away from Toothless so the dragon couldn't knock him into the water.

Toothless turned to hiss at his rider's cousin, and Hiccup raised a hand to stop him. "~Hey, calm down, Bud.~" He fished his helmet out of the pouch attached to Toothless's saddle, and shoved it on.

"~Do I have to swim?~" Toothless whined.

"~_Yes_, Toothless!~" Hiccup exclaimed. "~Hurry, before someone onshore sees you!~" He practically pushed the grumbling dragon overboard.

With Toothless's added weight gone, the fishing boat rocked dangerously, sending Snotlout overboard. "Oh _come_ _on_!" He yelled.

Gobber pulled him in, chuckling, and set him next to Hiccup. "There, now. You two drippy lads match."

Snotlout scowled, and Hiccup rolled his eyes.

It didn't take long to reach the docks after that. Not many people waited there for their arrival, but Hiccup was sure that would soon change as the news of a stranger spread.

...A stranger wearing strange, black scales from head to toe, who wouldn't show his face. Hiccup swallowed nervously, glancing at Toothless as he surfaced for a moment directly under the dock before going under again, swimming off to find a place to creep onshore without being seen.

Hiccup was the last person to step out of the fishing boat. He saw that Astrid looked particularly happy to be on solid ground, and he smiled, wondering if he was the only one who realized she didn't like sailing.

He turned, spotting his father stomping toward them, and inhaled sharply at the chief's sudden appearance.

Astrid noticed and sent him a reassuring look.

Stoick stopped in front of them, and Hiccup tensed. "Who's this?" He asked gruffly, raising an eyebrow at Gobber.

"Oh, uh... Jus' a shipwrecked la- Uh, manly Viking man... Found 'im on an iceburg, actually, surrounded by sharks-"

"I didn't even tell him about that part," Hiccup groused quietly to Astrid. She bit back a grin.

"Oh, really?" Stoick said, turning to Hiccup, who tried not to tremble. "Is this true?"

"Wha- Oh, uh, yeah. Um, except the sharks bit, I mean- Yeah, it's true. My, uh... My ship sunk, yes." Hiccup stammered nervously.

Vikings weren't known for their lying skills. Nor, apparently, were former Vikings, Astrid noted. But Stoick bought it.

"Why are yeh wearing that mask?" The chief asked.

Hiccup's eyes widened. "Oh, um- I' uh... I've got this-"

"Scar," Astrid interjected smootly. "I've seen it. It's horrible!"

"Thanks," Hiccup told her, faking heavy sarcasm.

Stoick nodded. A horrible scar seemed like a silly reason to hide your face, but it wasn't his business. "Well, you can stay for a few days, stranger, and then Trader Johann will arrive and I'm sure he won't mind taking you home, wherever that is."

"Oh, um.. I- I don't have one." Hiccup told him. "A home, I mean."

Stoick frowned, then narrowed his eyes. "Why not? You're not _Outcast_, are you?"

Hiccup shrugged. "I, uh... Not officially. I left before they could..."

Stoick suddenly looked much less happy about inviting this stranger into Berk. "What was your crime?" He asked.

Hiccup's eyes flashed angrily. "It wasn't a crime! I- Uh, sorry," He continued quieter than before. "I just... Made friends with someone."

Stoick's brows furrowed as he tried to figure out why making a friend would result in being exiled.

"I shouldn't have." Hiccup confessed. "He was... He was an enemy, I guess. But I was different, and he was different, and suddenly we were best friends, and if my tribe found out-"

"What's your name?" Stoick interrupted, no longer caring why this oddly dressed stranger had exiled himself, since what the man had done couldn't possibly put Berk in danger.

"My- My name?" Hiccup stammered, eyes wide. "I, uh... Toothless!" He blurted the first name to come into his head. Stoick smiled, though he did think 'Toothless' was a little odd for a Viking name.

"Okay, Toothless. I've decided you may stay here, so long as you pull your weight an' don't take up too much space, so-"

"Shouldn't be too hard," Hiccup mumbled, before he could stop himself.

"What?" Stoick asked.

"Uh, nothing." Hiccup said awkwardly.

"Right. As I was sayin', we'll need t' find someplace for you t' sleep-"

"There's a cot in Hic- Ah, the back room o' the forge," Gobber volunteered.

Stoick smiled again, though it seemed a little forced this time. "There you go, Toothless. Now you've got a place t' stay."

Hiccup nodded, mumbling his thanks. The other teens started drifting away, bored.

"Now, as for workin', there's always a spot open on the ships-"

"_No_! I mean, I'd_ really_ rather work in the forge..." Hiccup blurted.

Stoick paused. "You're a blacksmith?"

"Uh, I was an apprentice." Hiccup told him. Stoick glanced at Gobber, who shrugged as if to say 'why not?'.

"Good. Gobber can teach you anything you don't know." With that, he turned and stomped away, leaving Hiccup, Astrid, and Gobber alone on the dock.

"That went better than I expected," Hiccup said, relieved. "I mean, that was probably the longest conversation I've ever _had_ with him!"

"Ach, don' say that," Gobber told him.


	16. I'm Not Hiccup

As Hiccup expected, everyone stared at him as he followed Gobber to the blacksmith's shop. Gobber was loudly pretending to give him a tour, though all Hiccup really wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep. Preferably in his nice soft bed on his own island.

"An' here," Gobber was saying, "Is th' Mead Hall. This's where yeh eat if you can't cook an' don't have anyone t' cook for yeh."

"Hiccup yawned, deadpanning, "I'll remember that when I forget how to cook."

"Yeh can also find somethin' t' drink an' some_ company_," Gobber added pointedly as he turned away from the Mead Hall.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, Gobber. Just 'cause Toothless isn't..." Hiccup paused, aware of the villagers around them. "Well, you know... Anyway, he's perfectly good company."

"I'm jus'_ sayin'_," Gobber said.

Hiccup sighed, following him without really paying attention to their direction. "Well, don't. I'm perfectly able to take care of myself, I don't need your help."

"Aye, an' I'd believe you if I _hadn't_ seen yeh nearly burn th' village to th' ground..." Gobber told him sarcastically.

"It was one time!" Hiccup complained, throwing his arms up.

"Three times, at least!" Gobber countered.

"Fine! Three times, then!" Hiccup relented. He looked up at the sky, longingly. "I want to go flying."

"Tough," Gobber said. "You've got three years o' apprenticeship t' catch up on!"

Hiccup groaned.

The two were silent for a few moments, then Gobber resumed his fake tour. "Here we've got the Dragon Training Ring." He gestured vaguely at the chained-in pit.

Hiccup looked up to glare at it, then turned on his heels and walked away from the Training Ring, Gobber following him. "Why did you take me there?" He hissed at Gobber.

"Look, Stoick's gonna ask that yeh fight dragons like everybody else. Yeh can't stop that. So I think it's time yeh learned-"

"No!" Hiccup snapped.

"Hiccup, yeh don' have a choice. If yeh want to at leas' look like yeh're fightin', yeh have t'-"

"I said no." Hiccup interrupted in a low voice. Then, softer, he continued. "I can take care of myself, Gobber. I'm not a little kid anymore. And remember, I'm _not_ Hiccup."

Gobber narrowed his eyes. "Right... _Toothless._ If yeh think yeh can take care of yerself, prove it."

Hiccup nodded. "Fine. I will."

"_After_ yeh fix some weapons." Gobber added.

Hiccup rolled his eyes, then spotted Astrid. "Hey, Astrid!" He called, waving.

"Hic- Ah, Toothless!" Astrid grinned, joining them.

"Do you want to spar later? "Hiccup asked, glancing pointedly at Gobber.

Astrid looked surprised. "I- Um, are you_ sure_?"

Hiccup sent her an irritated look. "Yes, I'm sure. I _can_ fight, you know."

Astrid nodded slowly. "Okay, _Toothless_. Let's see what you can do." She held up her axe, and Hiccup reached under his cloak to draw his sword.

"Ah, ah, ah." Gobber said. "No, yer sparrin's gonna 'ave t' wait. Hiccup's got smthin' to do!"

Hiccup sent Gobber an irritated look. "It's_ Toothless_, Gobber. Toothless."

"Aye, Hiccup."

"_I'm not Hiccup_."

* * *

><p>Sweat dripped down Hiccup's back as he pounded at a red-hot glob of metal that was once a cracked and unusable battle-axe.<p>

"...A nice, warm, fire-breathing reptile to curl up with in the winter," Hiccup was saying.

Gobber rolled his eyes. "I'm not interested in bein' exiled, Hiccup."

"No, but imagine having someone to keep you company... And, as an added bonus, you'll never have to light another fire ever again." Hiccup grinned.

"Yeh can give up on it right now, I mean it..."

"You could even train them to fetch your prosthetics!" Hiccup said.

There was a pause, and then Gobber grumbled, "Now_ that_ migh' be useful. But for th' last time, no!"

Hiccup smirked as he lifted the re-forged axe-head out of the flames with a pair of tongs, dropping the whole thing in a bucket of water.

"Dragons can heat up water, you know," Hiccup said, watching steam hiss out of the bucket.

"Aye, tha' is true." Gobber replied cautiously.

"I haven't had very many cold baths in the past three years," Hiccup stated pointedly.

"I'm a _Viking_, Hiccup." Gobber deadpanned. "I'm used t' cold baths."

Hiccup shrugged as he pulled the cooled axe-head out of the water and set it in a vice. "It was worth a try. Have you ever imagined what your house would look like from the clouds?"

"No, Hiccup." Gobber said. "An' I don't intend t' find out."

Hiccup twisted a wooden handle into the axe-head and sighed. "Why not?"

"Yeh're just as bad as yeh were as a six year old," Gobber told him flatly.

Hiccup smirked, pretending innocence. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He set down the repaired axe. "That's the last one, Gobber."

"Excellent, Hiccup." Gobber said cheerfully, busy expertly sharpening a pile of spears one at a time.

"Can I go flying now?" Hiccup asked hopefully.

"Oh, no!" Gobber smirked. "Yeh promised Astrid yeh'd spar wi' her, remember?"

Hiccup's eyes widened. "Oh... I get it. I get it. You're trying to make me too tired to fight. And then-"

"Where'd you get tha' idea?" Gobber said, a little too innocently.

Hiccup ignored him. "You can't put me in Dragon Training, Gobber."

"How 'bout this," Gobber proposed. "If yeh beat Astrid, yeh don't have t' go through Dragon Trainin'."

"Deal," Hiccup said immediately. "Where's Astrid?"

Gobber raided an eyebrow at Hiccup's enthusiasm, then shrugged. "Think I saw her goin' into th' forest."

Hiccup grinned, pulling a shirt over his head. In the privacy of the forge, he'd deemed it alright to tak his helmet off, and his cloak and shirt had followed as it got oppressively hot inside.

The moment he stepped outside, people started whispering, glancing at him every now and then. The thing about Vikings was that they were terrible at subtlety, and Berkians were no different.

Hiccup rolled his eyes, ignoring the gossipers as he slipped into the forest.

"Hey, Astrid, Stormfly." He greeted the blonde girl and her dragon as he entered the cove, tugging his helmet off as he did. "Have you seen Toothless?"

"If you mean the dragon, no." Astrid replied, then grinned. "Seriously, Hiccup. You could have chosen _any name._"

Hiccup shrugged, sheepish. "I panicked, okay?"

Astrid laughed. "Are you planning on going flying?" She asked.

Hiccup nodded. "If Toothless decides to come out of his hiding place." He directed the last part towards a large clump of bushes, where Hiccup had earlier caught a glimpse of obsidian scales.

The bushes rustled indignantly, and Astrid bit back a giggle. "Were you serious about the sparring thing, earlier?" She asked after a moment.

"Yes!" Hiccup exclaimed. "Gobber seems to think I can't take care of myself in a dragon raid. He wants me to go through dragon training again."

"Again?" Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you run away after the second day?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. And then I spent three years_ living_ with dragons. So... I think I can take care of myself."

"And Gobber wants you to prove it," Astrid finished. "I get it." She put on a nasal 'Hiccup' voice. "No better way to prove yourself than taking down the best warrior in Berk!"

Hiccup snorted. "Was that supposed to be _me_?"

Astrid shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "Maybe. At least I_ tried_, right?"

Hiccup laughed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So I'm in grade 12 this year, and as such I must do Grad Transitions. This means that I have to fill in my thirty volunteer hours, which I'm doing this month by volunteering for Actor's Studio. This also means that I may or may not be able to update on time. If not, I promise I will update ASAP.**

**Also, my cat hurt her paw recently, and we may or may not have to pay for the vet, in which case I'll need to get a job... And in that case, again, I may or may not be able to update on time.**


	17. And My Pants Were Missing

Hiccup and Astrid circled each other in the middle of the plaza, weapons drawn and raised as they each waited for the other to make the first move. They were quickly surrounded by a small crowd of Vikings.

Astrid let out a battle cry, having gotten tired of waiting, and charged. Hiccup sidestepped, eyes glimmering under his mask.

The Viking girl cursed, turning to face him again. This time, she approached more slowly, lunging at him when she was only a few feet away. Again Hiccup dodged, rolling under her swing this time.

He came up behind her and Astrid twisted as he raised his sword. She parried him with her axe blade, turning his blade so it fell out of his hand. Instead of moving out of range as most people would, Hiccup waited for Astrid to swing at him again, then ducked under her axe and tackled her.

The crowd whooped and hollered as Astrid yelped, dropping her axe without thinking. Hiccup's move had been so unexpected, so _un-Vikingly_, that she just hadn't seen it coming. Hiccup's eyes sparkled victoriously as he straddled her, pinning her hands above her head. He didn't seem to realize what position he'd gotten them into. Astrid struggled, blushing, but he was a lot stronger than he used to be. Hiccup counted to ten, then stood. "Looks like I win," He said as he helped her up.

Astrid could hear the smirk in his voice and she rolled her eyes. "This time, maybe."

"I could do it again!" Hiccup protested.

"Don' push yer luck," Gobber advised as he came up to them. "Looks like yeh won, this time, though. No dragon trainin'."

Hiccup grinned under his mask, then stretched contentedly, slightly smug at his victory. His comfort evaporated quickly as he was swarmed by Vikings praising him and asking questions about his technique.

"Where did you_ learn_ that?"

"Nice job, lad!"

"Uh, I don't-" Hiccup stammered.

"What was _that_?!" Snotlout demanded of Astrid as he and the twins approached, followed by Fishlegs.

"Yeah," Tuffnut added, smirking. "H-"

"_Toothless_," Hiccup corrected, still trying to fend off curious, admiring Vikings. "Uh, please, just let me, um-"

"-Iccup just _beat_ you!"

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Yeah, so?

"_'Yeah, so?'_" Ruffnut mimicked. "Nobody's _ever_ beaten you."

Astrid shrugged. "There had to be a first time, Ruff."

"But- But _he_ beat you!" Ruffnut protested, pointing at Hiccup.

"I _can_ hear you," Hiccup muttered, glancing over at them.

Astrid shrugged. "Ruff, you know he's not as scrawny and weak as he used to be."

"I am standing _right_ here," Hiccup added, going bright red under his mask. "Oh,_ please_ don't step on my foot," He mumbled, as Vikings continued to crowd much too close to him.

"You cheated," Snotlout accused, shouldering his way through the small crowd to poke Hiccup in the chest. The dragon rider rolled his eyes.

"I did not cheat."

"Yeah you did. You tackled her. You're not_ supposed_ to tackle her-"

"Oh, sure. Show me the rule book, then!" Hiccup challenged. "If you can find a book on sparring with_ Vikings_ that has _'tackling is not allowed'_ written in it, I'll agree to a re-match, alright?"

Snotlout huffed, trying to sound tough. "And what if there _isn't_ a book?"

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Shut up, 'Lout. He won."

"But Astrid-" Snotlout whined, giving up as soon as the blonde Viking glared at him.

Hiccup drew himself up proudly as the Vikings finally backed off, then shrank as much as he could as Stoick the Vast approached. "What's this I heard about a fight?" The Chief thundered.

"I, um. It- It wasn't, I mean-" Hiccup stammered.

"It wasn't a fight," Astrid spoke up, confident as always. "_Toothless_ challenged me to a sparring match and I agreed."

"I see." Stoick said. He was silent for a moment, then turned to Hiccup and grinned. "Well, I hope the lass didn't clobber yeh_ too_ badly. Can't really tell wi' that, ah..." He gestured at Hiccup's mask.

"Oh... I, uh... The mask. Right. Well, um..." Hiccup hesitated, unsure of how to tell his dad that he'd won. Astrid stepped in again before he could find the words.

"He won, Chief," She said loudly, chin held high.

Stoick blinked in surprise. "He- Yeh did?! Well, _congratulations_, Toothless! I didn't think you had it in yeh."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Hiccup told him sarcastically.

Stoick blinked, frowning, but then shook his head. "It's not that yeh don't seem plenty, um, tough..." He explained diplomatically. "Jus', well, you're not quite as..."

Hiccup sighed, rolling his eyes self-deprecatingly. "I know, Da- Ah, Stoick. I look like a talking fishbone."

Stoick scratched his beard, looking awkward. "I didn't mean it that way."

Hiccup shrugged. "It's okay. I'm used to it. Before I, um, left my tribe..." He trailed off and looked at the ground.

"Well!" Stoick said loudly, as if his volume would make the topic change any more subtle, "Astrid Hofferson is the toughest young warrior on this island. If beatin' her in sparring isn't cause for celebration, I don't know what is!"

Another thing about Vikings: They loved celebrating. Hiccup didn't mind this part so much, except that he never remembered much of the merrymaking afterwards. One time, he'd nearly had a heart attack when he woke to find himself

on the roof of Fishlegs' house.

Hiccup sighed to himself. He'd been planning on flying with Toothless, but he couldn't very well turn down his dad's offer. He was the Chief, for the gods' sakes. "Um, okay."

Stoick beamed, then turned and stomped away towards the Mead Hall, leaving Hiccup to watch his receding back.

"So, that went well," Astrid observed, coming to stand beside him.

"Sure it did," Hiccup said, still staring after his dad. "Now, instead of a nice long flight with my best friend, I get to spend a few hours in the Mead Hall with a bunch of thoroughly drunk Vikings."

"What, not getting drunk yourself?" Astrid smirked. Clearly, she remembered something he didn't.

"Uh, no." He told her. "I don't want to end up sleeping in the rafters or anything."

Astrid snorted. "Have you done that?"

Hiccup paused. "I really hope not."

Astrid giggled. "Snotlout told me he woke up in the well, once."

"I told you that in confidence!" Snotlout exclaimed.

Hiccup raised his eyebrows at his cousin. "In the well?!" Snotlout only shrugged.

Astrid shrugged. "I think I pushed him in, actually. It's sort of fuzzy."

"_When_ did this happen?" Hiccup asked as they began to walk toward the Mead Hall.

"About a year ago," Ruffnut said casually. "It was _awesome_."

"I don't remember anything," Tuffnut told them all.

His sister snickered. "I know. Me neither. But it _must_ have been awesome, 'cause when I woke up my pants were missing."

Tuffnut high-fived her. Astrid stared at them for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess it was okay."

Snotlout rolled his eyes. "Just okay? You disappeared for ages. Like, you were gone until afternoon the day after."

Astrid glared at him. "I woke up in the cove where _Hiccup_ was carried off by a _Night Fury_." She glared pointedly at Hiccup. "It was kind of rough for me."

Hiccup frowned. "Oh. Well, uh... If it helps, I _was_ carried off by a dragon. I mean, technically... Sort of."

Astrid scowled. "That really doesn't help, actually."

"Come on, slowpokes!" Ruffnut yelled, sprinting the last thirty or so feet up the stairs to the Mead Hall.

"I'm not a slowpoke, you are!" Tuffnut retorted, running after her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I am SO SORRY! I know, I warned you I might update late, but I was hoping I'd get it in on time, but then my English teacher assigned us this project, and she told us that if it was done by midnight (last) Thursday she'd get us coffee and Timbits and so I was up until eleven doing that when I'd planned to write, and then I was volunteering all weekend, and yesterday I took my cat back to the vet for x rays (She's fine, by the way. Thanks to everyone who asked. The vet told me it was probably a soft tissue injury, like a pulled or ripped tendon or muscle in her wrist area...)**

**Tonight (Wednesday, Oct. 29th) was my last night of volunteering, so I'm almost clear to write whenever I want again... I just have to get Grad Transitions out of the way, and that's done on December 10th... But mostly I'm free, so I should be able to get chapters up on time again. **

**And wow. This fic is almost over, it seems! This chapter was mostly filler, and it's not even particularly long (I'm sorry that's all I could offer for being a week late, but it's midnight and I'm tired.) The length and plot should pick up soon, though, and this might be done by January. It probably WILL be done then. And after that, I'd like to take a short break before starting the sequel, since I haven't been able to focus on other fics since July, and there are quite a few plot bunnies sitting on me...**

**And now I'm rambling. Fantastic. Okay, I think I'll just go to bed now, since I'm obviously overtired. I blew up at my dad earlier 'cause he freaking carved MY pumpkin without my permission, and it now has a huge hello-kitty shaped chunk cut out of it and it's horrible and ugly and- Schist. I was gonna make it all cool and put the Marauders on it... And my dad's excuse? "We needed the pumpkin seeds." (WTF, dad?! Couldn't you get them out without destroying MY pumpkin with a hastily carved hello-kitty cutout? I'm not saying hello-kitty is a horrible thing to put on a pumpkin, but it looks like you used a chainsaw to cut it out!)**


	18. He Says We're Leaving

An hour into the party when most of the Vikings were fairly drunk, but not _really_ drunk yet, and Hiccup was mildly intoxicated despite promising himself that he'd remain sober, Astrid left the Mead Hall.

Hiccup wasn't worried; she'd strutted up to him earlier to yell in his ear that she was going to keep Stormfly company for a while, joking that she'd had enough of her bruised ego for the moment. He was sure she wasn't serious because she'd punched him hard in the arm when he started to apologize.

From his usual dark corner of the hall, Hiccup could see his father making his way through knots of villagers, laughing heartily every now and then. He looked away.

Hiccup took another sip of his mead, then returned to scanning the hall. Gobber was standing by, amusing some younger children with some tall tales.

Fishlegs was nowhere to be seen, but Hiccup thought he might be at home, re-reading the Dragon Manual or something.

Snotlout and the twins were sitting at one of the larger tables with a group of older villagers, drinking mead and boasting about their accomplishments. As Hiccup watched, Tuffnut stood and climbed on top of the table, swaying slightly.

"Hey. Did you guys hear? I'm gonna be chief one day," Tuffnut bragged loudly, taking another swig of his mead. Hiccup shot upright in his chair and made frantic 'stop talking right now' motions that went completely ignored by the twin. Snotlout laughed, drunker than either twin, then sighed and laid his head on the table. Ruffnut stared as he dosed off, then dumped her mead all over him. He didn't stir.

"Where in the nine realms did yeh come up wi' that one?!" The twins' mother called, laughing.

"Ha!"

"I'd eat my fish raw the rest of my life if _that_ was true!" Someone yelled.

Tuffnut shrugged, seeming not to hear the jeering comments. "Well, Hiccup ran away, Fishlegs said 'Not it', Ruff said it was too much work, Astrid's a traitor, and-" Hiccup groaned.

"What?! Not _my_ daughter!" Ingrid Hofferson shouted from across the hall.

Tuffnut nodded. "Oh yeah. She's totally betraying everyone, but _shush,_ I'm not supposed to tell anyone-"

Hiccup sighed, shaking his head.

"The Hofferson lass, a traitor? What's her crime?" Someone called.

Hiccup signalled desperately, but Tuffnut was oblivious. "Oh, she's hiding a dragon in the woods, just like-"

"What?!" Stoick thundered.

"A _dragon_..."

"In the_ woods_?!"

"Seemed like such a fine young warrior, too..."

Tuffnut opened his mouth, and Hiccup finally stood up, far too late. "That's_ enough_, Tuffnut." Then he turned to the crowd of Vikings and faltered. "He, ah... I think he had too much mead?"

"The Hofferson girl_ has_ been actin' strange lately," Someone muttered, ignoring Hiccup.

"Aye," Another agreed. "Perhaps the Thorston kid's tellin' the truth."

"Thorstons don't lie!" Somebody called.

"Oh no..." Hiccup mumbled as more Vikings joined the conversation, all coming to the conclusion that Astrid was a traitor and should be Outcast.

And that was when Hiccup did something stupid. "Stop!" He shouted.

About half the Vikings in the hall heard him and turned to stare or yell at him, but he didn't shut up then.

"Astrid hasn't done anything wrong!" Hiccup yelled, pushing his way toward the center of the room. "All she did was make a _friend_! Is that so _wrong_?!"

"Oh boy," Gobber muttered into his prosthetic mug, unable to help.

"Made a friend..." Stoick muttered, narrowing his eyes. "You!"

Hiccup's eyes widened. "What? Me? Um, what?"

Tuffnut snorted, pointing at Hiccup. "You're not Toothless. Hehe... T'thless's not a..." He stumbled and fell of the table into his sister's lap. Ruffnut made a face and shoved him onto the floor at her feet.

"_You_ did this!" The Chief accused, glaring at Hiccup.

"I... Don't know what you're..."

"Don't lie t' me, _Toothless_. Your_ friend_ isn't human, is he? Well? Tell me!"

The hall was silent as Hiccup hesitated. "Um-" He froze as a familiar voice came into earshot outside the thick doors, and Astrid slipped inside, facing the door as she pushed it closed.

Hiccup winced as she turned around and froze, song dying on her lips. "Why is everyone staring me? Um, is it my singing? It _better_ not be my singing." She demanded.

Spitelout, who happened to be standing near the door, reached out and grabbed Astrid's braid. "Got 'er, Chief!" He called to general applause and cheering. Stoick nodded, more concerned about sneaking around behind 'Toothless'.

"Hey, let go!" Astrid yelled, struggling. "Have-" Kick, "You-" Punch, "Gone-" Knee to the groin, "_Insane?_!" Astrid whirled as Spitelout let go of her, catching Hiccup's eye.

"Run, Astrid!" He shouted. "Hurry, they know the t-" Stoick lunged, clamping his hand over Hiccup's mouth. Hiccup let out a muffled yell and began struggling.

"Oh no, yeh don't!" Stoick growled, adjusting his hold on Hiccup so he could rip his mask off.

Astrid took a step forward as Hiccup's mask came off, then turned and sprinted outside. Hiccup slumped, relieved that Astrid at least had gotten away for now.

Stoick spun Hiccup around, holding him up by a strap on his leather armour. "Oh, no- Don't hold that, it's sensitive-" Hiccup protested. Then he met his father's angry eyes and whispered. "Oh, man..."

"Who are yeh?" Stoick hissed. "Who's yer friend, an' what were you doin' with th' Hofferson girl?"

Hiccup stared at him for a full minute, debating whether or not there was any point in lying.

Stoick glared harder, then pushed 'Toothless' away. The young man stumbled backwards and fell. "Fine. Have it yer way," Stoick said. "You'll regret it when we catch th' Hofferson lass." He gestured to a Viking Hiccup vaguely recognized as Silent Sven. "Find her." Sven nodded and rushed out of the hall.

"Alright!" Hiccup shouted, scrambling to his feet. "Fine. Just don't- Don't hurt Astrid." Stoick crossed his arms, and Hiccup swallowed, glancing at Gobber. The blacksmith nodded slightly, encouraging him to tell the truth. Hiccup took a deep breath. "I'm... I'm a dragon rider."

Many Vikings gasped. Some raised their weapons and others took a step away from Hiccup as though his compassion were contagious. Gobber rolled his eyes, and Hiccup shrugged slightly in response.

Stoick looked disgusted. "You ride those beasts?"

"No," Hiccup said lightly. "Just... Just one. TOOTHLESS!"

There was silence for a moment, and Hiccup stepped carefully backwards, away from the Vikings and his father.

"What was-" Stoick covered his head instinctively as the signature cry of a Night Fury rose, louder and louder, until fire engulfed the main doors and Toothless dove to his rider's side, leaping over the Vikings' heads. He encircled Hiccup protectively, growling.

"This is my friend, Toothless." Hiccup introduced. "He says we're leaving." Hiccup's face hardened. "Now." Toothless took off, shooting through the smoldering doorway to disappear into the darkening sky.

Stoick cursed. "Come on," He ordered. "We can still catch the girl." He marched out of the Mead Hall, followed by the majority of somewhat-sober Vikings.

Ruffnut sighed, kicking Tuffnut lightly with her boot. "Look what you did, idiot." She mumbled.


	19. Loki's

Astrid stumbled, nearly falling as she sprinted through the woods, her breath coming in short gasps. She had no idea what was happening, but her cover must have been broken. She could hear Vikings behind her, crashing through the woods. They were gaining on her.

Was Hiccup okay? She wondered. The Chief had grabbed him, ripping his mask off just as Astrid turned to run. Did they know who he was? Was he even alive?

Astrid had no way of knowing. She risked a glance over her shoulder as she ran, and her eyes widened as she realized her pursuers were almost upon her.

She kept running.

"Astrid, stop!" She heard one call.

"Damn it, lass! Get back here!"

"Where are you going?!"

Astrid stumbled again, quickly regaining her feet. "No! Leave me alone!" She shouted back at them.

"Stoick thinks you've sided with dragons!" One of them -Astrid thought it was Spitelout- yelled.

Astrid narrowed her eyes, concentrating more on where she was going than her words. "And what if I_ have_?! The tribe is wrong! We're killing innocent creatures!"

"Listen to yerself! That Loki boy's brainwashed you!"

Astrid actually laughed. "He's not Loki's!"

"He's tricking you!"

"He's _Hiccup_!" Astrid shouted without thinking, elated at the realization that he must be alive. If he weren't, they wouldn't have used present tense, would they? The footsteps paused for a moment, giving her a few seconds.

"What's that mean, lass?! The Chief's son is dead!"

Astrid grinned fiercely. She was almost to the cove. "He's alive! Toothless didn't kill him! He ran away!"

"That's a lie!"

"How _dare _you disrespect the dead!"

"Don't bloody that poor boy's memory!"

Astrid saw red. "How dare _I?_" She shrieked. "How dare _you_! You made Hiccup's life miserable here! You drove him away! You- You made fun of him, called him names, laughed at him... How dare _I_, you say!"

On that last word, Astrid tripped over a tree root and went tumbling down a hill. She collided roughly with a boulder at the bottom, the wind knocked out of her.

A moment later, hands grabbed her roughly and pulled her upright. Astrid gasped for breath. "He's _dead_, Astrid." Spitelout said sterly, arms crossed. "He's been dead for three years. _Get over it_."

"He's not," Astrid smiled, shaking her head. "You saw his face, didn't you? Green eyes, red hair, thin... He's alive."

The Viking holding her arms behind her shifted, as if he agreed, but said nothing. Looking over her shoulder, Astrid realized it was Silent Sven.

Spitelout's stony expression didn't change. "That Night Fury this '_Toothless'_ had would have killed Hiccup. Probably did, actually. Give it up, lass. He's dead."

Astrid shook her head. "No, he wouldn't. Toothless is harmless!"

"It's killed_ hundreds_ of us," A deep voice growled behind her. Astrid was roughly turned to face Stoick, who had just arived.

"No," Astrid argued. "Dragons don't- It's not their fault!"

Stoick opened his mouth angrily, but a shriek rose in the air, growing louder. Astrid looked up, but made no move to duck.

"Night Fury!" Someone gasped.

"Get down!" Spitelout shouted.

Astrid was shoved roughly to the ground as Toothless's shriek reached a crescendo. Seconds later, she heard Hiccup cursing as the duo shot past overhead.

Then her heart stopped as the telltale click of crossbow bolts being inserted into their slots reached her ears. "Hiccup!" She screamed. "Look out!"

"We're okay!" Hiccup called after a long silence. A few Vikings cursed, reloading their weapons. "Don't shoot!" Astrid cried.

"An' why not?" Stoick demanded.

"It's Hiccup!" Astrid said. "He's your son!"

"That thing," Stoick growled, "Is not my son. My son is dead!"

"No I'm not!" Hiccup called as Toothless made another pass.

"Shut up, boy!" Spitelout yelled at the sky.

"Hiccup is dead," Stoick repeated, furious. "He was killed by a dragon, Astrid. What are yeh doin', siding with those beasts?"

"They're not beasts!" Astrid snapped. "They're amazing, they- They don't want to hurt us!"

Several Vikings snorted or laughed. "Explain why they're all attackin' Berk, then." Stoick ordered.

"They're being controlled!" Astrid blurted.

There was a moment's silence, interrupted only by a quiet, _'Oh, no'_ from above them, and then everyone began speaking at once.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I know, I know. This is way, way,****_ way_**** too short and it's actually pretty much unacceptable considering I technically had all week to work on it, sort of, but I had- no, still ****have**** to- complete my M.A.P. for Grad Transitions, and it was due Wednesday, so I've been working on that, and my roleplay's really gotten going again, and also life... So I'm sorry it's so short but I figured you'd rather have something than nothing, am I right?**

**On an unrelated note: My cat is fine now, barely limping at all. :) She says hi.**


	20. Why On Midgard

**A/N: Hey, everyone. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I really hope it formats properly, because it was written entirely on my phone.**

* * *

><p>"Quiet!" Stoick shouted over the cacophony of Viking warriors. He turned on Astrid, demanding. "How d'yeh know that?"<p>

"I-" Astrid hesitated, wondering if she should tell them.

"I've been to the nest! I told her! Leave her alone!" Hiccup yelled from above.

Several Vikings fired upwards again, and by Hiccup's cry of pain, they hadn't missed this time.

"Hiccup!" Astrid screamed, struggling harder against Silent Sven's arms. "Stormfly, help!"

"I'm- I'm okay," Hiccup said a moment later, his voice pained. Astrid nearly cried in relief.

"Reload," Stoick commanded roughly. "Tell us how t' find the nest!" He shouted.

"Why on Midgard would I do that?!" Hiccup replied, sounding baffled.

"If yeh don't, we'll shoot you an' your dragon out o' the sky and execute you as a criminal!" Stoick threatened.

"No need to resort to drastic measures!" Hiccup called sarcastically.

"You've no right to sound like them!" Stoick roared. He looked around wildly for something he could hold against the dragon rider, and his eyes fell on Astrid.

Astrid gasped as she was pulled roughly away from Silent Sven. "I'll kill the Hofferson girl! Tell us!"

"Like I said," Hiccup said, his voice now deadly serious. "No need to resort to drastic measures."

"Well?" Stock demanded.

Hiccup sighed. "Only... Only a dragon can find the nest." He said slowly.

Stoick's eyes widened. "Of _course_..." He breathed.

He turned to his warriors. "Get back to the' village. Ready the ships!"

"Oh, no..." Hiccup muttered. "Stop it, you don't know what's in there!"

Astrid's head snapped up as she heard a familiar squawk and her dragon landed on the edge of the clearing. "Stormfly... Stormfly, go!"

Her Nadder squawked again, this time in alarm as Vikings charged at her, some with nets and others with weapons.

"No!" Astrid cried as Stormfly fell, straining against the nets that held her wings against her.

Toothless dove toward them in an attempt to rescue either Stormfly or Astrid, but was forced to retreat as the crossbows were fired again.

"Stop!" Hiccup shouted. "Please, you don't know what you're up against here! It's like nothing you've ever seen, I swear!"

"Leave, spawn of Loki!" Stock yelled, throwing his warhammer in Toothless's direction.

"Missed!" Hiccup called a moment later for Astrid's benefit. "Don't go, please, dad I swear you can't win this-!"

"SHUT UP!" Stoick bellowed. Everyone froze, watching the enraged Chief. "You're not my son. My son is dead, and you-" He gestured vaguely upwards. "You're not my Hiccup!"

The dragon rider was silent for a long moment. Then, just loud enough to be heard, he muttered, "You just gestured to all of me."

Several Vikings gasped, and Stoick growled. "You're not him," He repeated.

"Fine," Hiccup said. "Don't believe me. I didn't want you to know anyway." There was a rush of air as Toothless flapped his wings, quickly accelerating out of sight.

Astrid cried as they dragged her and Stormfly back to the village. Both of them were tossed into the Dragon Arena for the night. Neither slept.

* * *

><p>Her parents stared at her as she was led down to the docks, hands tied behind her with rough rope.<p>

The other teens watched, solemn in the knowledge that they were only free because they hadn't been ratted on... Yet. Tuffnut, now sober, mouthed a 'sorry' to Astrid, wincing as she glared at him.

Gobber sighed as he watched the exchange, then gestured for the teens to board the ship as well.

"Why did yeh do it?" Stock asked, staring at Stormfly, who was now chained to the deck of their biggest ship.

Astrid held her chin up proudly. "I did it because we were wrong about dragons. Hiccup was right and you're a fool not to listen to him."

Stoick's face darkened. "That thing isn't Hiccup."

"Does it matter?" Astrid asked. "He's still right. Dragons, when not threatened or controlled, are amazing, gentle creatures."

"That's not true," Stoick said in a low voice.

Astrid shook her head. "I've seen it. He's right."

"How dare you," Stoick growled. "They attack my village, they steal our food, they took my family-!"

"Hiccup ran away, Stoick," Astrid snarled. "We drove him away!"

Stoick ignored her. "Set sail! ...For Helheim's Gate."

"You can't hide from the truth forever," Astrid said evenly. "Hiccup is alive and you've lost your last chance to convince him to come home."

"Astrid, stop!" Her father burst, eyes sad. "Just... Don't make this worse than it is."

Astrid turned to look at him, swallowing. "I didn't do this. It was you. All of you."

"We raised you to be a proud Viking shieldmaiden!" Ingrid Hofferson scolded from beside her husband. "What changed?"

"Only my perspective," Astrid replied honestly.

"Dragons off the port!" Someone shouted. Astrid's eyes widened as she turned with everyone else.

The dark blur sending up spray as it sped toward them could only be Toothless.

Astrid grinned. "Hiccup!" She glanced at the other teens, raising her eyebrows in a silent question.

Snotlout was the first to nod, followed by Fishlegs and then the twins. "I agree with Astrid!" Snotlout shouted. The others threw in their agreement loudly.

The Vikings began muttering and yelling as the teens made their way to Astrid's side.

Toothless landed lightly on the deck, the Vikings backing away as much as they could. "Stop!" Hiccup cried, dismounting and moving, -nearly falling as he did- in between the teens and his father. "Stop. You can't do this! You can't go to the nest!"

Stoick tightened his grip on his battleaxe. "Leave, devil."

Hiccup did no such thing. "Dad, _please_. You'll die! _All of you_ will _die_!"

"Stop pretending to be him!" Stoick yelled.

"I am Hiccup!" The dragon rider shouted back. "The gods know you don't believe me, but _I am_ _Hiccup_!"

"Prove it," Stoick snarled.

Hiccup stared at him. "Okay. How do I do that?'

"If you're my son, you'll kill that beast!" Stoick pointed at Toothless.

Hiccup laughed. "No. I told you,_ I can't kill dragons._"

Stoick's eyes widened slightly. "No. My son _died_ trying to kill it!"

Hiccup kept talking. "You said I would. I didn't. I was very extra sure that I wouldn't. I was right."

"Stop it..." Stoick swallowed. "Stop it!"

"You told me to train hard, that you'd be back... Probably."

"I said that... How d'you know I said that?"

"I told you I'd be there, maybe." Hiccup finished softly. "But I wasn't, of course_. I'm Hiccup_."

Stoick took a step forward, examining his son's face. "...Hiccup?" He asked thickly, seeing his sons eyes, the scar he'd earned the night Valka had died, his freckles.

Hiccup nodded. "Dad..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So my hand slipped. :D I did not intend for Stoick to believe him yet, but they're writing themselves and it happened.**

**The reason I wrote this on my phone would be that dad took my computer away two days ago, and I haven't yet got it back. So, yeah... I would love to avoid writing on my phone again. :D**


	21. Roasted or Eaten

Stoick looked as though all he wanted was to step forward and sweep his son up in a rib-crushing hug and never let go. But he didn't, because at that moment Hiccup's leg buckled and Toothless darted forward to catch him.

"~Thanks, Bud.~" Hiccup muttered, putting all his weight on his right foot.

Astrid gasped as she saw what was wrong, eyes going wide. "Hiccup! Your leg!"

"I know," Hiccup told her. "I tried to take it out, but it's... It was barbed, and then part of it broke off... It can wait." He glanced down at his left leg. There was a piece of a crossbow bold lodged in his leg, just below the knee. It was bleeding, but not too badly.

Stoick stared at his son and the Night Fury, completely ignoring Hiccup's injury. "You sided with them," He stated, as if saying it out loud would cause Hiccup to realize the severity of his actions and change his mind.

Hiccup turned back to his dad. "I did," He said calmly.

Stoick took a step backwards. "Why?"

"Dragons are not what you think they are," Hiccup said. "They are... Amazing, gentle creatures..."

"Stop." Stoick ordered. "How can you say that? They're mindless beasts! They've killed hundreds of us, son."

"And you've killed thousands of them!" Hiccup retorted. "This is Toothless," He added, scratching the dragon's scales.

Stoick raised his eyebrows, repeating the word doubtfully. "Toothless."

"He's my best friend," Hiccup said.

"Those things took your mother!" Stoick protested loudly.

"He cares about me more than anyone on Berk ever did!" Hiccup retorted, raising his voice.

"But you're a Viking-"

"No!" Hiccup snapped. "I'm not a Viking. I stopped being a Viking a long time ago."

Stoick recoiled. "Then you're not my son," he said heavily, after a moment's pause.

Hiccup stared at him for a moment. "Fine."

"Tie them up," He ordered Spitelout, turning away.

Shock and surprise flitted across Hiccup's face, followed by calm. "Toothless, go."

The dragon whined, but Hiccup repeated his plea more forcefully and the Night Fury took off half-heartedly, circling the ships a few times before turning abruptly to disappear into the clouds.

Astrid rushed forward to help support Hiccup in Toothless's absence, though she wasn't too much help with her hands tied as they were.

"Thanks," Hiccup muttered to her as Spitelout stepped forward and bound his hands.

Astrid gave him a small smile in return, though her face was pale. "We're gonna die, Hiccup," She deadpanned. "I had to do_ something_ to make amends."

Hiccup grimaced. "Don't remind me. I was _kind of_ hoping to avoid being roasted or eaten for, I don't know, at_ least_ twenty or thirty more years."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Funny, I had a similar goal."

"Um, I think we _all_ did," Fishlegs mumbled from nearby, after making sure the adults weren't paying attention.

"Yeah," Snotlout butted in. "But," He tried to look appealing. "I'd make an exception for you, Astrid."

Astrid cracked a grin. "Aww, that's sweet of you." She said, grin twisting into a honey-sweet smile. Snotlout looked surprised until she continued, "Your being eaten would really make my day."

Tuffnut sniggered and Ruffnut jeered, "Ooh, you really fell into that one!"

Snotlout tried to look as though he'd meant for things to go this way: "Anything for you, Astrid."

Hiccup tried to hide a small smile. They hadn't changed a bit. "Tuffnut sidled closer to his leg, reaching toward it. "Hey, can I touch?"

"Um..." Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "No..?"

Tuffnut looked disappointed. "I wanted to see if I could see your bones and stuff."

Ruffnut rolled her eyes, swatting his helmet. "Idiot. Here, Hiccup, we can put bandages and stuff on it, I guess."

"You can?" Hiccup seemed surprised, but the twins shrugged.

"Yeah," Ruffnut answered.

Tuffnut grinned. "We're always practicing on each other."

"Yeah, practicing on wounds you inflicted." Astrid interjected.

"Well, alright." Hiccup decided, glancing around to make sure none of the adults were watching. They weren't, as the fog of Helheim's Gate was now in sight.

The twins made short work of his wound, though there were a few worrying moments:

_"We have to splint it," _

_"No way! A tourniquet's better." _

_"But if you leave it too long, a tourniquet'll..." Ruffnut trailed off there, and Tuffnut nodded, making a face._

_"I know, but we have to stop the bleeding-"_

_Ruffnut sighed. "I don't like it, but okay."_

Hiccup now wore a ribbon of fabric torn from his shirt, tightly tied just below his knee. In addition to that, the twins had bandaged his wound with wet cloth, also from his shirt.

"We can't take the bolt out, 'cause it'll tear all around it if we try." Ruffnut said. "So it'll have to stay in there for now. Cool, right?"

"Uh, sure..?" Hiccup muttered, not sure whether to be scared or grateful.

"Oh, no..." Astrid spoke up. She hadn't been paying much attentions to the twins' medical ministrations, more focused on the thick fog they were approaching. Stormfly was beginning to struggle, clearly trying to make her way in a particular direction.

"No..." Hiccup muttered, forgetting about his leg.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I know! This one's short too, and I'm sorry and I intended fr it to be longer but it's 11:56 Pm on Thursday right now and if I don't publish now it won't be on time so here, hope you like it, next chapter should be longer.**


	22. So Much Blood

"They're_ innocent_," Hiccup protested weakly as the fleet of long-ships turned into the fog.

"Tried that," Astrid told him wryly, holding up her bound wrists. "They didn't believe me."

Hiccup snorted. "_Funny_, Astrid." He raised his voice a little, so the Vikings could hear. "But that doesn't change the fact that we're all about to_ die_!"

He was met with muttering and eye-rolls. Fishlegs grimaced. Spitelout snorted and opened his mouth, doubtlessly to inform Hiccup that _nothing_ could crush an army of Viking warriors, but he was cut off by Stormfly.

The dragon pulled at her restraints, clearly doing her best to fly in a certain direction. Stoick pushed another Viking aside in order to man the tiller himself.

Hiccup closed his eyes, hearing the dragon Queen as clearly as the Nadder. "~Terrible things...~" He muttered in Dragonese, seemingly unaware that he was speaking at all. "~Stormfly, don't listen to her. Please, girl. She's_ lying_ to you. Don't listen. Don't follow her. Run.~"

Stormfly shuddered, unable to resist the Red Death's pull.

"What's happening?" Astrid sounded scared, and Hiccup vaguely realized he'd never heard her like that before.

"The Queen," He replied grimly.

Ruffnut turned to her brother seriously. "Dude, I will never forgive you if you just got us all killed."

Tuffnut nodded, seeming ashamed. But then he brightened up. "Hey, think of the mess!"

Ruffnut's eyes widened and she crowed, "Oh, _cool!_ There'll be so much blood!"

Snotlout rolled his eyes. "We're _not_ gonna die, Tuff."

The twins quieted for a moment, then Ruffnut replied. "But what if we_ did_? Imagine all the blood they'll have in Valhalla!" Tuffnut grinned.

Hiccup made a frustrated, growling sort of noise, and it was hard to tell whether he was speaking in Dragonese or just making a sound. "You don't get it. There's a good chance- A _really_ good chance that we will die, and it doesn't matter where we end up, because we'll be _dead_ and the war won't end!"

Astrid nodded as the three quieted. Fishlegs gulped. "Um, how big did you say that dragon was..?"

"_Quiet!_" Stoick ordered. The teens fell into an anxious silence, Fishlegs glancing around nervously as though if he tried hard enough, he could see through the fog. Hiccup chewed on his lip, listening to the hissing and grumbling of many hidden dragons.

Hiccup glanced at Stormfly worriedly, hoping she wouldn't be hurt by the way she was pulling against her restraints. The ship shifted to avoid a hanging long-ship, one of many shipwrecks, and Hiccup shifted instinctively with it, putting weight on his injured leg. He winced, wishing he could sit down.

He had to throw his arms out for balance a moment later, as the ship's hull hit rocky beach, but it was an act of futility as Hiccup lost what little balance he'd had when the first Vikings poured out onto the shore, making the boat rock. He ended up clinging to Astrid, who didn't comment, too busy staring up at the cliff face.

"So this is it, huh?" She said bravely, blowing her hair out of her eyes. Hiccup briefly wondered how she could be so calm.

"Y-Yeah," He muttered, glad that Toothless would survive, whatever happened to him. "This's it."

"Get out," Stoick shouted at them from land. "Come on, _out!_ Twins, Snotlout, you're in charge of the_ traitors_. Don't disappoint me." He turned and stalked away to oversee the Vikings' attack plans.

"Wow, I see he hasn't changed." Hiccup remarked, staring after him. He moved to take a step and nearly collapsed. Astrid had to help him off the ship. "Ow, Tuff, Ruff, what'd you do to my _leg_?"

The twins exchanged glances, then replied in unison. "We stopped the bleeding."

Ruffnut hesitated slightly before asking, "How does it feel?"

"Pins and needles, all down my leg." Hiccup replied, frowning. "Is that normal?"

The twins relaxed. "Yeah, definitely," Tuffnut said. "That's my favorite part. But tell us when it stops being all _tingly_, okay?"

Astrid motioned over to a rock outcropping. "We'll be a little safer over there. More protected, right?"

Snotlout grunted, making sure that no adults were looking before cutting Astrid's bonds with his dagger.

Hiccup nodded absently, his thoughts already far off as they made their way to the relative safety of the rocks. "This'll never work... Catapults, barricades, weapons... Great against most dragons, but..." He trailed off into Dragonese.

The teens watched as Stoick stepped forward, planning done. "Think we'll make Valhalla?" Astrid wondered bleakly. The Chief raised his hand.

"If you_ fight_, sure." Hiccup replied despondently. "See you in Hel?"

"Yeah," Astrid said, watching the Chief's hand become a fist. The catapults fired, one by one, boulders crashing into the cliff.

Snotlout hesitated for a long moment before muttering, "Um, yeah. What Astrid said, I guess..."

The twins nodded. Tuffnut sighed. "So much for all that blood."

"I wonder how many fires we could start in Hel," Ruffnut said, cracking a smile. Tuffnut brightened a little, then deflated as the cliff crashed away to reveal a dark opening.

Hiccup watched as his father made his way to the newly made tunnel into the mountain. "Don't..." He muttered. "Turn back, please..." It was no use. Stoick signaled for light, and both Hiccup and Astrid winced as the burning mass was flung into the opening.

"Do you think that got her attention?" Astrid asked quietly.

Hiccup winced as Stoick gave a great yell and charged inside, followed by others. "It has now," He replied sadly, watching as dragons of all colours fled into the sky. He narrowed his eyes as he realized that only the most common dragon species had emerged. Had the Queen killed all the others?

"Oh,_ Thor_..." Snotlout breathed, as the ground rumbled and an unearthly shriek filled the air. The twins watched open-mouthed as the mountain trembled- No, not just trembled... It was being torn apart from the inside as the giant dragon clawed her way out of her prison.

Fishlegs buried his face in his hands. "Odin's hairy armpits..." He mumbled weakly, watching through his fingers as the Red Death forced her way out, scattering the Vikings.

Hiccup watched despondently as the Queen lunged at a catapult, snapping it in two before letting out a mighty roar. "Why couldn't you have just stayed home, dad..." He muttered.

"He's a _Viking_," Astrid told him, coming off as almost sympathetic.

"Yeah, I know. Stubbornness issues, and all that," Hiccup responded, rolling his eyes.

"For what it's worth, we tried." Astrid murmured, staring as the Red Death snagged a long-ship out of the water and bit it in two.

"_You_ tried," Tuffnut reminded her, almost cheerful at all the destruction. "_I_ got drunk."

Ruffnut sniggered, then watched in awe as all of the remaining ships were torched in one go. "Whoa," She said, as heat washed over them.

Most of the Vikings had scrambled off the beach now, hiding among the rocks a good distance away from the teens.

"I'm sorry," Hiccup said after a moment.

Astrid looked surprised. "What?"

"This- None of this would've happened if I'd only... I dunno, taken Toothless and flown off when you found us. If I didn't stay-"

"If you didn't, I'd still be a dragon killer," Astrid interrupted. "And I'd still be set on avenging you and all that. So you can shut up right now, Hiccup, because I don't regret _any_ of this."

"_I_ do," Snotlout muttered. Everyone turned to look at him. "What? It makes sense! If_ you all_ didn't decide you wanted to go back to Berk, we'd all be living on Hiccup's island with our dragons, instead of certain death coming any minute now-"

"Our dragons!" Hiccup exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know," Snotlout said, irritated by the interruption. "I didn't even tell Hookfang-"

"No,_ look_!" Hiccup said, interrupting Snotlout again as he gestured upwards. "Our dragons! _Toothless_!" He let out a dragon-ish roar, and Toothless turned in midair, then dove, landing quickly beside Hiccup.

"~There you are,~" Toothless said, licking Hiccup's chest. "~I was worried!~"

"~Yeah, yeah. It's okay, Bud.~" Hiccup paused, glancing at the massive dragon as Toothless snorted. "~Well, maybe not. But it_ will_ be, alright?~"

"Reunion's over," Astrid interjected, dragging Hiccup along as she dove behind a different rock. Toothless -and the other teens- barely managed to get out of the way before the Queen's clawed feet came down, obliterating their former hiding place.

"Okay, plan." Hiccup decided, facing the teens. "You distract her, _we'll_-" He gestured at himself and Toothless. "-find her weakness and take her down."

"Are you sure it's got one?" Fishlegs asked, panicked.

Hiccup shrugged, hoisting himself onto Toothless's saddle. "Nope. Got another plan?"

None of them did, but Hiccup took off before they could have answered, anyway. "Wait!" Snotlout shouted after him. "How're we supposed to distract that thing without getting_ killed_?!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, I don't have any great excuses. **

**I wasn't hit by a car, or gone on an extended vacation to Peru, or gotten a really time-consuming job, or anything like that. I _could_ have been writing. I wasn't, and I'm sorry. I didn't even have a huge school project I had to get done.**

**Except one thing. Grad presentations were coming up the week after I last updated, and I was... really nervous. If I failed that, I wouldn't be able to graduate. And I'm autistic; talking isn't exactly my strong point. I was so tempted to let my writing slide -just for one week, of course- and so I did, and I passed my grad presentation, and suddenly there was no pressure, no deadlines to meet or anything. And it was really, really nice. **

**And I let another week go by. And another. Just a little break, I told myself. I'll finish writing the next chapter next week. I didn't. And now it's been... Two months, right? Yeah. I'm sorry. And this isn't even a good time to update. I've got my math final tomorrow morning, and my English 12 Provincial on Monday. But when have I ever claimed to be anything but insane, honestly? I can't promise I won't miss any more update days, but I will say that I won't drop off the edge of the world again, okay?**

**Also, next semester (It starts in a week) I've got all my electives, so I _hopefully_ won't have to miss any more Thursdays...**

**I wanted to get this out last Thursday, but then I realized it wasn't done, and I had to write at least seven hundred more words and edit it... So this Thursday it was. And it still feels sort of unpolished to me, but I hope you guys like it. :)**


	23. YOU WILL DIE

Astrid was the one to figure it out, watching as Stormfly and the other dragons, currently riderless, took turns dive-bombing the back of the Red Death's head, careful not to become targeted themselves.

She whistled loudly, hoping that Stormfly would hear her and understand. Sure enough, the colourful dragon spiralled down toward them, landing roughly and spraying them all with gravel. "Hey, watch it!" Snotlout complained.

Fishlegs's eyes lit up with sudden understanding as Astrid climbed onto Stormfly's back. "Oh!" He whistled as well, and Meatlug thumped to the ground a moment later. "I missed you, girl," He told the Gronkle, smiling tightly. "But now we've got a job to do."

"That-" Ruffnut began.

"Almost sounded cool, Fish." Tuffnut finished, rolling his eyes.

Ruffnut laughed, calling for Barf. Tuffnut frowned, insisting that their dragon ought to come when called Belch.

Snotlout rolled his eyes. "Please. You guys are hopeless. Watch this." He puffed out his chest and ordered Hookfang to the ground, only to deflate a moment later as his dragon didn't come immediately.

The twins snickered as they clambered onto their dragon's heads, leaving Snotlout alone on the ground. He gave in a moment later and whistled as Astrid had. Hookfang flew happily down to him, of course, and Snotlout took a moment to grumble to himself before taking off.

Hiccup watched the battle from high above. Most of the Vikings were gone, hidden somewhere a good distance away from the Queen. There were still two standing in plain sight, and Hiccup figured they must be his dad and Gobber. He ignored them.

The teens were doing their best, but how long could that last? He noted, distractedly, that the Red Death had huge, ragged wings pressed against her sides. "~Come on, Buddy. We've gotta do something.~"

"~Oh, sure,~" Toothless replied sarcastically, watching as the Red Death let out another blast of flame at the twins, who only whooped in excitement. "~What do you suppose we do? Shoot until she comes after us like a Terror after a fish?!~"

Hiccup's eyes widened. "~Exactly,~" He breathed.

Toothless almost threw him off, but Hiccup held on tight as he explained the plan. "~You have got to be kidding,~" The dragon grumbled, but quit his acrobatics anyway. "~Fine. Let's do it.~"

Hiccup grinned, surveying the battle one more time before flipping his dragon-scale hood up. "~Let's go, bud.~" They dove, wind rushing past Toothless's wings and creating the familiar shrieking sound that always accompanied a Night Fury's dive. Toothless added to it, letting out a roar of his own. Hiccup yelled, not to be outdone by his dragon, and between them created an almost unearthly sound.

And then they were feet from the ocean, coming out of their vertical dive. The teens' dragons scattered in all directions, "~Now!~" Hiccup called, and Toothless fired. They soared upwards again as the Red Death stumbled. "~You think that got her?~" Hiccup called, his voice raw already from yelling.

Toothless glanced back and flattened his ears against his head, diving into a sea of stone pillars. "~Yes!~" He replied hurriedly. "~Now what?!~"

Hiccup looked over his shoulder as well. His eyes widened. "~Well, she can fly!~" He shouted, glancing up at the dark clouds. Hiccup smiled, baring his teeth in a dragon-like fashion. "~C'mon, buddy. It's time to disappear!~"

Toothless raised his head and flicked his tail, and then they were going straight up, slowing a bit as they lost momentum. The Queen gained on them, her huge wings giving her the advantage.

Toothless snapped his wings, and they were gaining again, escaping into the relative safety of the dark clouds. The Queen followed, too angry to wait for the tiny black dragon to come out.

Toothless called out to the Queen, taunting her as she tried to find them. Toothless shot at her, hitting her wings, her face, anywhere he could. He didn't bother aiming.

The Red Death let out a mighty roar. "~YOU WILL DIE, LITTLE ONE!~"

Toothless laughed, diving under her. "~I will die of old age, and you will never catch us!~"

"~US,~" She mused, letting out a burst of fire at their previous location. "~WHO IS US? YOU HAVE ONE PAIR OF WINGS, LITTLE ONE. YOU ARE ALONE! YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ALONE.~"

Hiccup let out an indignant shriek. "~Toothless is NEVER ALONE.~"

The Queen twisted around, shooting at them again. "~ HOW DARE YOU CARRY A WINGLESS ONE!~" Toothless didn't have time to slide out of the way, and Hiccup cursed as fire washed over them. "~HA!~" The Queen roared. "~I HAVE GOT YOU!~"

"~NEVER!~" Toothless screamed, arcing above the Red Death.

The Red Death cackled. "~I CAN SEE YOU, LITTLE ONE! YOUR LEECH HAS CAUGHT FIRE!~"

Hiccup cursed again, looking down to find the length of fabric that Tuffnut had bound his leg with on fire. The flames hadn't quite reached his leg yet, but it soon would.

"~Let's do this, Bud,~" He muttered in Toothless's ear. "~Now!~"

Toothless folded his wings and dove, slicing through the air just in front of the Queen's nose. "He shouted at the Red Death, goading her into following. "~You cannot catch US, Ugly One!~"

"~WHAT DID YOUR PARASITE CALL YOU,~" The Queen growled. "~Toothless? YOU ARE NO BETTER THAN A HATCHLING, NO-TEETH!~" She let her mouth fill with gas, preparing to shoot again, now that she could see the tiny dragon.

She narrowed all six eyes as he flipped around, falling on his back now. "~My Hiccup is NOT A PARASITE,~" He snarled. "And I DO HAVE TEETH!~" He fired directly at the Red Death, who choked in surprise as her mouth filled with fire.

The Night Fury swerved sideways, giving her an unobstructed view of the rapidly approaching ground. "~NO!~" She screamed, unfurling her wings in vain. Unused in centuries, they were ripped apart by the harsh wind and the pressure put on them. "~YOU WILL PAY!~"

She hit the ground in a storm of fire, and suddenly Hiccup and Toothless were flying for their lives, dodging fire and spikes taller than them as they raced the explosion up the Queen's tail.

Hiccup let out a pained sound as his tourniquet burned, and the distraction was enough. Toothless made to dodge left of another ten foot tall thorn, and Hiccup didn't react in time. The spike scraped along Toothless's left side, and Hiccup screamed as his leg was crushed between them, the crossbow bolt twisting inside his leg. There was a painful snapping sound, and Hiccup slumped forward, unconscious.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: MWAHAHAHAHA.**


	24. All Wrong

Astrid covered her mouth with her hands as Hiccup screamed somewhere inside the explosion. Stormfly shuddered under her, squawking worriedly.

Snotlout went very pale, clutching Hookfang's horns tightly. The Nightmare rumbled.

Fishlegs gasped, hiding his face in shaky hands. Meatlug let herself sink a few feet in disbelief. Hiccup couldn't be_..._ Could he?

The twins watched the carnage open-mouthed, exchanging glances. Barf and Belch each let out a keening sound.

The Vikings moved slowly from their hiding places as the dust began to fall.

Nobody dared to approach until the fire died.

"Come on, Stormfly," Astrid whispered as the last flames disappeared. The Nadder took off, a little less than graceful as the they searched for the one who'd brought them together.

The other teens began to look as well, but it wasn't them who found him first.

"Hiccup!" It was Stoick. "Hiccup..?"

The teens turned their dragons to the sound.

Astrid jumped off of Stormfly before she'd even landed properly, approaching the Chief hesitantly. He was kneeling beside a familiar black dragon.

Hiccup was not there.

She shook her head slowly, uncomprehending. "No..." She muttered. They'd only just got him back, this couldn't be, it wasn't fair... Stoick was saying something. Muttering, Astrid realized, as her feet carried her forward.

"My son... He was my son... I'm so... I'm so sorry..."

Toothless moaned, opening his eyes just slightly, surveying his blurry surroundings. There was water dripping into a huge, red beard in front of him, and also from the eyes of the fierce blonde girl Hiccup liked so much... He groaned again, feeling Hiccup wrapped up inside his wings. Hiccup was hurt, he remembered fuzzily. Did the fierce one not know he was alive?

Toothless unfurled one wing, allowing the Vikings access to his Hiccup. They could make him not-hurt, Toothless knew. Hiccup had done so for him, after all. Toothless let his wing rest as Hiccup was pulled from his grasp, and closed his eyes.

Astrid's eyes widened as Stoick pulled Hiccup out of the dragon's hold, cradling him in his arms. The dragon rider seemed tiny compared to his father, though he'd grown a lot in the three years he'd been gone.

Stoick cried, from joy this time, as he proclaimed Hiccup alive. Astrid choked on her relieved laughter as she caught sight of Hiccup's leg. Or... What was Hiccup's leg.

The next time Toothless woke, there was a fish in front of him. He took it sleepily, and another was held in front of his nose. But when he went to eat the second fish, it was pulled away. Toothless narrowed his eyes. He would not tolerate this. He heaved himself to his feet and followed the fish slowly, stumbling slightly now and then.

Astrid gave the tired dragon his fish once she'd lured him onto the deck of their salvaged ship, then gave him a few more before letting him rest. She sighed, glancing toward the small crowd of Vikings that surrounded Hiccup. He was going to lose the lower part of his left leg. There was no way around it, Astrid knew, but it was still... Weird. Sad.

Everyone was subdued. Hiccup, Hiccup the Useless, the traitor, the dragon rider, had saved them all. He'd saved them and lost his leg as a reward. He could have left them to die, and been whole. He certainly hadn't owed them anything.

And now he was a hero. Everything was going to change. Everything had to change, now. Everything that they'd known for the past three hundred years, it was all wrong. And Hiccup, Hiccup was right.

The third time Toothless opened his eyes, the Queen's island was gone. In its place was Berk, and the fierce blonde girl was talking to him, babbling in the way Hiccup used to do before he learned to speak Dragonese, as if Toothless couldn't really understand.

Toothless grumbled as the girl prodded him, but let her lead him off of the ship anyway, muscles protesting every step. He'd crashed pretty hard, Toothless thought hazily. What had he been doing? The girl led him uphill, toward the highest Viking-nest on the island. It was the one Hiccup had pointed out to him a few times. At first, the boy had said, _"That's my house."_ And then, later, when Hiccup lived with Toothless, he'd said, _"That's where my dad lives."_

The Night Fury closed his eyes once again inside the Viking-nest... House. Whatever Hiccup had called it. He could smell Hiccup nearby. That was good. Hiccup was okay.

Astrid rubbed her eye as she yawned, shifting as she sat on the hard wooden chair. She hadn't been sleeping well lately, the nights filled with screaming and fire. She glanced over at the bed. Hiccup was pale, his freckles standing out more than usual. He had so many freckles, Astrid mused. Why hadn't she noticed that before? She tried not to look at his leg, the space where his foot should be conspicuously flat under the blankets.

Toothless was waking up more, and Astrid hoped he'd start eating properly soon. She didn't know exactly what had happened in the fire, to make Toothless so tired, or to hurt Hiccup that way. She didn't really want to.

Maybe Hiccup would wake up soon, too. Astrid sighed, hoping that was so. But he hadn't so much as stirred yet, beyond when they'd amputated what was left of his left foot.

Astrid grimaced, trying not to think about that.

Sometimes, Stoick came to watch Hiccup with an indecipherable expression on his face. He never stayed long, and he never said anything.

Astrid wondered how it must feel to have lost a child to dragons, to mourn them and set fire to an empty funeral ship, only to find three years later that that child had run away with their would-be killer and was now a traitor. Astrid took a deep breath. It must have been horrible for the Chief, watching Hiccup fight the Red Death and knowing that it was his fault his son was up there at all.

Astrid's thoughts wandered to her own parents. She hadn't seen them yet, but knew they were alive. They were okay. They'd allowed her to be named a traitor, though, even helped capture her, and Astrid wasn't sure she could forgive them for that.

She glanced over at Hiccup again, wishing he would just wake up already.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So I'm not really sure what I was doing with the POVs, but I kind of like it. Happy Valentine's Day!**


	25. Home

Hiccup was warm. That was the first thing he realized on waking up, before he'd even realized he was awake. He was warm and comfortable, and he might've drifted right back to sleep had Toothless not chirped an obnoxiously bright "~Good morning, Hiccup!~" right in his ear.

Hiccup grumbled a bit, not opening his eyes. Toothless nudged him a few times, and he grumbled again, slightly louder. Then the Night Fury licked his face, and Hiccup opened his eyes blearily, pushing Toothless's face away so he could sit up. "~Blegh, gross,~" He teased, sitting up. "~Morning, Tooth-...~"

Hiccup froze as his eyes focused on their surroundings. "~We're in my dad's house. You're in my dad's house... What happened? Why are we in here- Is that Astrid?~" His eyes found Astrid asleep in a chair beside his bed.

Toothless grinned, hopping around excitedly. "~What, don't you remember? We killed the Queen!~"

Hiccup's eyes widened. "~We... Oh. Oh, right.~" His eyes wandered back to Astrid. "~Why is she in here, though?~" He frowned, blinking slowly. "~And why are we here?~"

Toothless calmed down a little, circling Hiccup's bed. "~Well, after we exploded the Queen...~" He hesitated, tail sweeping across the floor. "~You got hurt. Kind of... Badly.~"

Hiccup's eyes widened. "~What? I was? Why don't I remember this? Were you alright?~"

Toothless snorted a little. "~Can you ask any more questions? I was mostly okay. Fell hard, but that's okay. You weren't awake until now, and it's been so long...~"

"~How badly was I hurt?~" Hiccup asked. "~I mean, I was only out a day or two, right?~"

Toothless glanced down toward Hiccup's feet. "~More than that, Hiccup.~" The dragon's tone was gentle. "~I think the moon's been full three times, but I'm not sure-~"

"Three months!?" Hiccup exclaimed, forgetting to use Dragonese. Astrid's eyes snapped open with a yell.

"Oh gods, Hiccup!" She gasped, once she'd calmed down. "Don't yell like that... Hiccup! You're awake!"

Hiccup frowned, stammering a little. "Uh... Yeah. Toothless said I was hurt?"

"That's an understatement," Astrid said dryly, rolling her eyes at the black dragon.

Hiccup grinned. "It must have been some hit, huh? To put me out that long... Is there still a bump?" He raised a hand, gesturing to the back of his head. Astrid looked confused, and then horrified.

"Oh- Oh, no, Hiccup... It wasn't your head..." She hesitated and Hiccup's smile faded a little. "It was your leg. It- you were already hurt, and then it got crushed somehow, and... They tried their best, Hiccup. We tried."

Hiccup wasn't smiling at all anymore. His hands shook as he reached out, slowly, and grabbed hold of the blanket covering his legs.

Toothless sent him a sympathetic look as he stared at his remaining foot, and at the metal thing where the other one ought to be lying. "Oh." He said in a small voice.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup." Astrid offered, standing.

Hiccup nodded slowly, dragging his eyes away from his feet- foot. His foot. "Okay," He said. "Okay." He swung his legs off the bed, putting weight on his real foot before letting the metal touch the floor.

Astrid made sure she was close enough to catch Hiccup if he fell, but Toothless was the first to reach him when he stumbled on his first step. "~Thanks, Bud,~" Hiccup muttered, leaning on his friend as he limped around the room.

"Has he filled you in?" Astrid asked, sitting on the edge of Hiccup's bed.

"Um," Hiccup began. "We killed the Queen."

Astrid nodded. "The Red Death. Yeah. Anything else?"

Hiccup frowned at his foot. "He was getting around to telling me about my... leg."

"~I wasn't sure how to tell you,~" Toothless defended.

"~It's alright, Bud.~" Hiccup took another step, wincing.

Astrid grinned. "Then he didn't get to tell you about everything else. Come on!" She turned, walking purposefully toward the door.

"Every-what? Wait!" Hiccup limped after her, managing on his own for now. Toothless hovered beside him in case he fell.

Astrid grinned, tugging open the door. "Look," She told him.

Hiccup watched as a Nightmare swept past, Snotlout on it's back. "Hookfang?" He wondered. "What are they doing in plain sight of the... Oh." Hiccup's eyes widened as he realized how many dragons were perched on rooftops or flying or being scratched on the chin. "Oh," He repeated.

"Do you like it?" Astrid asked, clearly proud of the huge changes Berk had made.

"I-" Hiccup nodded, his voice failing him. "I never thought..."

She smiled. "You're a hero now, you know."

"Me?" Hiccup asked, half-laughing at the idea.

Astrid nodded. "Yeah. You did end a three-hundred-year war." She punched his shoulder roughly, making him sway.

"What was that for?" He asked, frowning at her.

Astrid smirked. "That was for running away." She paused, then grabbed his tunic and pulled his lips down to hers. "And that," She continued when they broke apart a few seconds later, "was for coming back. And ending the war."

Hiccup grinned crookedly at her, looking a little dazed. "That just made it all worth it," He mumbled, face bright red.

Astrid blushed, and turned to face the doorway again, just as someone spotted them standing there. "He's up!" someone called.

Hiccup took a step back as they were swarmed with happy Vikings, feeling overwhelmed. It had been a long time since he'd stood in a crowd, and even then he'd felt a little claustrophobic.

Nobody seemed to notice his discomfort, however, several Vikings patting him on the shoulder or back.

Hiccup was released soon enough, however, as Stoick approached. "Hiccup," The Chief said, somewhat awkwardly.

"Da- Er, Stoick." Hiccup replied, just as awkward. "Um, thanks for letting me sleep in your house, but I should really-"

Stoick interrupted him, looking confused. "But it's your house too, son."

Hiccup tensed. "I- What?"

"You saved us," Stoick continued."We were..." He hesitated. "We were wrong."

Hiccup nodded, eyes darting around nervously. "Um, this is... Well, I didn't really expect an apology?" His voice cracked on the last word, and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Oh." Stoick said. "Alright." There was a moment of silence, and then Stoick continued. "Well, it's... It's good to have you back."

"Um," Hiccup responded. "I- Um..." He took a deep breath. "Dad, I'm not staying."

Stoick looked shocked. "You're... You're not?"

"I have a- A home, a place where I belong... This, here..." Hiccup gestured at their surroundings. "This isn't... I mean, it's a great place, now with the dragons, and I love it, but... It's not home."

"I see." Stoick said heavily. Hiccup shifted awkwardly.

"I, um... I'll visit?" He offered reluctantly.

Stoick nodded. "Yes. Um, yeah. Yes. Of course."

Hiccup started chewing on his lip. "So..."

Stoick nodded again.


	26. Everything Else

**A/N: Gods I am so, so, _so_ sorry for not updating in eight months and three days, and I wish I could have finished it sooner, but I have a truly _spectacular_ list of excuses. I did try to write this chapter in February, and I ought to have had it published on the 26th of February, but I got a terrible case of writer's block and it only let up last Friday (16th of October). Added to my terrible writer's block, homework piled up (It was my grade twelve year and the first year I had in public school since grade 7) and in the end I spent two solid weeks working on homework in May and June, away from the computer because I couldn't afford to get distracted at all. Also, my computer spent several months gathering dust in the basement, because my dad decided it would be a _grand_ idea to renovate my room without asking me and I had nowhere to set up my computer for about four months (I have a laptop now as well as a computer, thankfully). On top of all this, my dear Cola died on May 6th this year. She was my cat and my best friend, and I will miss her very, very much. Additionally, I will miss my dog, Frankie, who died in July this year, and my grandpa, who died August 1st. **

**In short, this has been a terrible year, but I am very excited to be writing again.**

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><p>"Astrid," Hiccup said a week later as Stormfly and her rider landed behind him. "You're staying here, then?" The blonde Viking slid off her dragon and walked over to stand near Hiccup at the top of the hill, looking down at the village from their place near the Chief's house.<p>

"I- Yeah. But you knew that already, Hiccup. I have a duty to my tribe, and Stormfly is accepted here, now. I have no reason to leave." Astrid shrugged, watching as Hiccup finished tying the last of his provisions to Toothless's saddle, then stood and limped to her side. He was lucky he could stand and walk as well as he did, limp and all.

"What about your parents?" He asked, curious as to whether or not she'd forgiven them yet.

Astrid scowled. "I need time before I can forgive them, I think. What they did was..."

"Yeah, I know." He said quietly, nodding. "I need some time as well."

Astrid gave him a tiny grin. "Haven't you had three years?"

"Oh, yeah, but fifteen years of dad never listening to me... And then he got someone to shoot my leg, and accidentally unleashed the biggest dragon I've ever seen on the whole village..." Hiccup sighed, then smiled. "Even if he_ is_ sorry and didn't know it was me at first." He paused. "But, that aside... I understand why you're staying. Berk is your home."

"It's your home, too," Astrid told him.

Hiccup shook his head, smirking slightly. "No it's not. Astrid, this hasn't been my home for nearly four years now. I have my own house, and my own island, and... I miss my home, Astrid. I miss being there. I'm not used to being around so many Vikings any more."

"You're a Viking." Astrid pointed out.

"I_ was_ a Viking, sort of," Hiccup countered. "But then I ran away and spent three years living with dragons." He shook his head slowly. "I'm a dragon rider now." He glanced over at Toothless, who'd wandered a short distance away toward the forest and was sniffing at a rabbit hole at the base of a tree.

Astrid huffed, glancing over at Stormfly, who'd joined Toothless near the rabbit hole. "Can't you be both?"

Hiccup shrugged. "I spent so long trying to be a Viking, and, well, it never worked out, did it? I stopped trying to be a Viking when I left, and... I'm happier this way, I think." He glanced over at the dragons again to find they'd disappeared further into the forest.

Astrid shrugged, nodding reluctantly. "If you say so, Hiccup. I'll try to understand." She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt for a moment. "Visit sometimes, alright?"

Hiccup tilted his head a bit. "Course I'll visit, Astrid." He smirked. "Gobber hasn't taught me _everything_ yet, and Berk's always good for supplies..."

Astrid rolled her eyes, grinning. "Oh, so you'll visit for _supplies_-"

"And," Hiccup interrupted, eyes softening. "I'll visit cause you're here." He paused, blushing, then amended, "And my dad, and Gobber, and... Well, anyway."

Astrid's cheeks heated up. "Okay. I, um, I'll look forward to that, then." She hesitated. "And, I'll visit you, of course."

Hiccup smiled, teasing, "What, for my blacksmithing skills or my dragon-riding skills?"

"_Both_, actually," Astrid said, cheeks growing redder. "And... Because I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too," Hiccup replied, smiling shyly. "But, you know, dragons on Berk. I bet you'll be busy."

"Oh, yeah. Definitely." Astrid nodded, eyes lighting up. "And Chief Stoick heard Snotlout's opinion on being his successor, and, well... I'm not a traitor any more, so..."

Hiccup beamed. "He's making you his Heir? Astrid, that's_ wonderful!_" He stepped forward and swept her up in a hug.

"Yes! It's_ such_ an honour, and- Gods, I'm really a bit... Overwhelmed, I guess." Astrid confessed, hugging him back. "I never thought..."

"I know," Hiccup said, as they separated awkwardly. "It's... It's a lot of pressure. But you'll make a great Chief, Astrid._ Far_ better than I could've been."

Astrid grinned, cheeks going red again. "Um, thanks." She glanced at his face and hesitated, then slugged him on the arm.

"Ow," He cried, clutching his arm dramatically. "What was that for?!"

"Taking me prisoner," Astrid said immediately. "And turning me into a traitor. And almost getting yourself killed. _And_ running away in the first place-"

Hiccup laughed, cutting her off. "Okay, I get it, Astrid." She bit her lip, then leaned up and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips before taking a small step back. "And... What was that for?" He asked, cheeks red and voice lower and a bit rougher than before.

"For everything else," Astrid muttered, blushing.

"Oh, um. Oh- _Okay_." Hiccup stammered, blinking slowly. "Uh. Maybe we could, um... Do that again, sometime?"

Astrid tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Um... Okay," She agreed, looking down at the village so she could pretend she wasn't blushing. "I'd like that."

Hiccup grinned, and opened his mouth to say something, but Toothless chose that moment to push himself in between them and interrupt. Astrid's Nadder chittered in the background, watching. "~Are we going after the other dragon rider, Hiccup?!~"

Hiccup's eyes widened. In the face of everything else, he'd forgotten about the mysterious dragon and its' rider. "~I- Yeah, of course, Bud!~" He paused, frowning, then glanced at his new prosthetic and amended, "~After I've gotten used to this thing, though, alright?~"

Toothless bounded around him, excited. "~Yes, of course, I'll help you get used to it, of course, and you can make a better, fancy one and it'll match my tail and everything...~"

"What's he saying?" Astrid asked, watching in amusement as Toothless bounced around.

"He wants to go after the other dragon rider," Hiccup explained. "I think he's tired of staying in one place for so long."

"You know, we're dragon riders too, now." Astrid pointed out, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

"Yeah," Hiccup said, looking out over the village at the many dragons perched on rooftops and such. "I guess you are."

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><p><strong>The End.<strong>

**A/N: I seem to be quite talkative in this final chapter, don't I? Anyway, this is the end of Leaving, the final chapter, and it's quite strange thinking of it as done after all this time. I'm still planning a sequel, and most likely a third in the series as well, to match the trilogy of movies, but I don't know if I'll write or publish any of it before the third movie comes out in 2018, because I don't want to end up rewriting it to suit the third movie like I did for Run Away when the second movie came out, however well it turned out. If my unexpected hiatus can prove anything, though, it is that I will not abandon this story. The sequel _will_ happen, and most likely the third as well, however long it takes. I hope you enjoyed this story.**


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